The chat before this game revolved around who wouldn’t be in attendance.

Turns out, the expected Celtic didn’t quite make it either.

Without a recognised striker to lead the line, Celtic toiled with a ragged, disjointed performance out of sync with the fluency and aggression that has been in keeping with the Parkhead side under Brendan Rodgers. Such was the manner in which Celtic found themselves under the cosh at times, that the fact they finished still alive and kicking in this tie felt like a result itself.

A return trip to Trondheim awaits next week with the big question mark over the fitness of Leigh Griffiths. With Rodgers confirming before last night's game that Moussa Dembele is out until September with a recurrence of a hamstring injury, Griffiths' fitness will be the focal point of the next few days. The striker was suspended for last night's match but had not trained all week given a calf issue.

Against a Rosenborg side midway through their domestic campaign and with a solidity about them, Celtic struggled to impose themselves. As the game wore on, they struggled to keep themselves above board.

The Green Brigade were conspicuous by their absence but the lulls that enveloped the stadium in the latter stages of the second period owed more to the tension and disquiet of the performance that it did to anything else.

Indeed, while a scoreless draw might not seem like an ideal result ahead of a return trip to Norway but given the fact that Rosenborg scorned two chances of real significance, there was a feeling that Celtic came out of it the luckier of the two sides. Had the Norwegians taken their chances the tie would have been over.

Kristoffer Ajer was the surprise of the evening with the 19-year-old Norwegian deputising for the injured Dedryck Boyata. Ajer spent the latter half of the last season on loan at Kilmarnock but having played just one competitive game since his arrival at Celtic – he came on as a sub against Lincoln Red Imps in Glasgow over a year ago – there was little previous evidence to suggest he would find himself catapulted into a start against Rosenborg.

Ajer had a header that sailed just over the bar in the early stages but far more notable was the block midway through the opening period when Milan Jevtovic.

Still, the most uncomfortable player of the opening half was Tom Rogic. With no striker, the responsibility of leading the line fell to the Australian internationalist but it was evident from the early stages that he was ill at ease in such an offensive role.

Celtic dominated the early exchanges but more often than not there was no-one in the box when either Mikael Lustig or Kieran Tierney attempted to float a cross in. The best chance of the half for the Parkhead side came when Olivier Ntcham flicked a cross in with the outside of his boot for Stuart Armstrong to kill on his chest inside. However, the midfielder could not get a clean shot away and although Rogic was there to pounce on the rebounded effort, the packed nature of Rosenborg’s box made it difficult to find a space.

Given the lack of a notable presence up front, James Forrest will have cause to lament a weak header that brought out one of only two saves from Rosenborg keeper Andre Hansen in the game. It may be that he saw Tierney’s cutback late, but there was no menace about the effort and given the paucity of genuine chances it had to count as a decent chance missed.

By that stage, Rosenborg had grown in confidence and Craig Gordon took no chances with a swirling driving cross from Anders Konradsen that he tipped over the bar after the Rosenborg midfielder has shown Scott Brown a clean pair of heels.

The belief the Norwegians had gleaned from the manner in which they closed the opening period encouraged them forward again after the restart, with Vegar Eggen Hedenstad’s free-kick forcing Gordon to parry the ball round the post.

Nicklas Bendtner’s influence also grew the longer the game wore on. The former Arsenal forward with his height and experience was a strong focal point for Rosenborg – and was in direct contrast to the lack of an out-and-out striker that Celtic had. Similarly, the fact that the Norwegians are 18 games into their own domestic season started to tell.

On the hour mark, skipper Brown used his own extensive experience in the European arena to appeal for calm from those around him and there was a rally from the crowd to as Celtic tried to get themselves on the front foot. The biggest wake-up call through came when Bendtner started a patient move on the flank before feeding Milan Jevtovic who teed up Yann-Erike Lanlay in the middle of the box. With time and space he somehow managed to scoop his effort over the bar, a massive let-off and possible definitive moment of the tie.

Jonny Hayes was introduced to the fray shortly after, with Ntcham making way for the former Aberdeen player as Rodgers looked to try and stretch Rosenborg. Forrest came closest to breaking the deadlock when he Rogic combined before the Scotland internationalist sent a shot inches past the post.

At the other end, though, Bendtner scorned a glorious chance to give Rosenborg what would have been a precious advantage when he miskicked a cutback from Mike Jensen, with the Celtic goal at his mercy. Elbasan Rashani, too, saw Gordon's knee block a rasping effort in the final minutes.

Armstrong had a half-volley parried by Hansen but the midfielder brought out groans from the home support when he ballooned a free-kick.

Like Celtic’s Champions League ambitions, it ended up in the air.