It won’t go down as a classic European night but no one should underestimate the importance of coming from behind to beat Rosenborg 3-1.
The lack of transfer activity combined with a burst of injuries had set a rather depressing tone before the match which was highlighted by Rosenborg scoring the opening goal. Surely Cork City wasn’t awaiting?
With a gentle change to formation Celtic upped their game, overcame some poor refereeing and levelled before the break.
The half time interval perhaps halted some momentum but in those 15 minutes Brendan Rodgers made his plans very clear with Olivier Ntcham underlining the belief in the side with a brilliant second goal.
It was a minor miracle that Rosenborg only lost one more goal, their keeper was inspired and the woodwork kindly to the Norwegian side.
On this form Celtic can look for a morale boosting win in Norway to reach the midpoint in the qualification marathon.
None of the teams in the qualification process will fancy playing Celtic- after last night’s performance the players will be filled with belief that they can reach the group phase for the third season running.