For anyone out there still struggling with a European hangover, I will type quietly.

The background humming of Yelutide ditties traditionally tends to signal the end of Scottish teams and their European adventures. Anything else is the bucking of the trend.

And yet, as Celtic formally exited the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night it was difficult not to lend weight to the theory that the seed of something more substantial have been sown by the Parkhead side in Group C these past few months.

Earlier this year as former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill broke away from a crowd of journalists following the draw for the European Championships, one reporter shouted to ask him if the Republic of Ireland were in the fabled group of death. “I’ve just seen Michael O’Neill being carried out on a stretcher,” was the Irishman’s dry retort.

Brendan Rodgers might have had cause to reach for the oxygen mask when Celtic’s draw was made, way back in September. It could not have been more of a formidable challenge for a team who, just 16 months ago, could not overcome the might of Malmo, or who, 13 months ago, were humbled in the Europa League on the back of a 5-2 hammering against a distinctly average Molde team.

Those nights seem simultaneously recent and distant.

The meekness of last season’s Celtic was glimpsed in the Nou Camp but it was not the same Celtic we saw in the Etihad, or the same side in Glasgow against Pep Guardiola’s side.

There has been something of the alchemist about Rodgers; Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic and James Forrest have blossomed under whatever magic has been dispensed at Lennoxtown with their performances rising in tandem with the burgeoning murmurs of appreciation from their manager.

It may seem odd in some ways that the Parkhead side should exit the Champions League without a win and yet still win plaudits, but that in itself comes down to two things; bravery and a maturation in performance levels. Few would have begrudged Celtic the win had they left the Etihad with all three points on Tuesday night, given the chances they made over the course of the 90 minutes.

Granted, a dead rubber muddies the waters but the sums were there for all to see; City axed 9 first –team players but still totalled in at £243.5m. Celtic didn’t want a game but they did win a fair bit of respect.

The plaudits and the garlands are all well and good for now, on the back of a three years stretch when Celtic have been in a Champions League wilderness but, ultimately, Rodgers’ ambitions will lie not in pats on the back but in tangible progress – and rewards.

And, whatever Celtic do and however they invest, that still seems like it will come down to a fair whack of luck at times. The financial disparity between the Parkhead side and the top European clubs means that there is no level playing field; being plunged into any group of death might always have a predictable outcome.

What will remain for as long as Rodgers is there, though, is a mindset and an attitude about this Celtic team, something that cannot be bought in the transfer market. There is a belief about Rodgers’ team, a conviction in their play and the way they have sought to live considerably beyond their means on the football park.

The great frustration now will be that there is a long hiatus before European football comes again – and even then it is a fraught course that awaits, no matter how impressive this campaign has been.

So far Rodgers has spent well in the transfer market for Celtic – Scott Sinclair’s pace has entirely changed the way that Celtic play, while Moussa Dembele is off the boil in comparison to how he was playing a few months back but who given Celtic genuine menace – and there will now be a nod to January to bring in additional quality.

The three points gained from this season’s Champion League will offer some form of traction ahead of doing it all over again next term. One thing is for sure; this term’s return that banked between £25m and £30m gives Celtic a chance to build from a position of strength as they head into a year that looks very different from the movie they were in 12 months ago.

The foundations have been set by Rodgers, but the challenge now is how to take it further.

Even if Celtic were to plough every penny of Champions League revenue into players over the course of the next two transfer windows there would still be no guarantee.

So much comes down to a rub of the green for teams like Celtic in the Champions League but Rodgers has shown just six months into his Parkhead career that he has the look of a man capable of spinning gold from straw.