I am probably guilty of getting a bit ahead of myself here but you have to say that if Celtic can formally secure that Europa League place, they’ll be in with a right good shout of making an imprint on the tournament.

I am not making great pronouncements about winning the Europa League or anything like that but certainly, if they consolidate that spot by avoiding defeat to Anderlecht next month then you have to fancy that there will be few teams who fancy playing Celtic on the evidence of Tuesday night.

Arsenal, Lyon and Lazio are all still in there so it remains a pretty formidable tournament but the aim for Celtic this season was always to get into the Champions League and then try to secure European football after Christmas.

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It represents progress again and more than just getting through, if they can continue playing the way they did against Bayern Munich, one of the great powerhouses of European football, then you have to fancy yourself whoever you are up against.

I was impressed with the way they set up and went about their business against Bayern Munich. Ok, the did not get the result they wanted – and merited – but the performance as a whole was reminiscent of some of the great European displays at Celtic Park.

Frustratingly there was an element of shooting themselves in the foot which was hard to take given the way they played over the piece.

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When Callum McGregor scored the equaliser I actually thought that Celtic could go on and win it so to concede just minutes later was pretty galling.

But what you do have to say is that with three academy players the best players on the pitch on the night – McGregor, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney were all outstanding – there was much for the club to feel positive about.

It says much about the strength of the academy and Chris McCart must have been as proud as anyone watching the game.

With Rodgers spending part of his weekend out coaching the under-14s it says much about the direction that the club are going in. The long-term future of the club looks solid on and off the park and with someone like Rodgers at the helm, that is only going to keep going.

He has been clear about sticking to his philosophy and the way that he wants Celtic to play and that is to be lauded. Celtic have always played attacking football, regardless of who they are playing.

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But what I found particularly notable on Tuesday night was not just that they played without the starts in their eyes that had been evident in the games against PSG and Bayern over in Germany, but that they were in their faces right away.

The middle of the park was where there was a massive difference in the performance with McGregor, Forrest and Scott Brown all excellent. There was a moment in the opening minutes when one crunching tackle I felt just set the tone for the manner of the performance that came after it.

Tierney’s will to win the ball in those opening five minutes when he started a move that culminated with Stuart Armstrong sending the ball wide was in keeping with the game as a whole and that for me was the telling difference.

They didn’t stand off Bayern, but were in amongst them from the get to.

It was a bit like the game against Manchester City last year when they got the draw and I thought there were a lot of similarities in it. Like last year, Celtic got off to a poor start in what was a formidable group but found their nerve to recover their composure.

It has been the same again this season. I think you can see the progress, you can see the way that the manager wants to get them playing and at this level, the highest level in club football, they can take a lot of positives from the manner in which they played.

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For what it is worth, I thought that both Dedrcyk Boyata and Craig Gordon were culpable for that opening goal.

It was an horrific error of judgement and was so frustrating given just how well Celtic had been playing. Boyata must attack the ball in that situation while if Gordon is coming out that distance then he has to be certain that he is going to get it.

I still maintain, though, that Gordon is a class keeper. I know there have been things said elsewhere but for me he remains a top-class goalkeeper and I wouldn’t be hanging him out to dry for that one.

I think he has proved his worth to Celtic time and time again in big games and I am sure he will again in this European campaign.