During his pre-match press conference ahead of Celtic versus Kilmarnock last week, Brendan Rodgers spoke candidly about his ambitions in Europe.

With automatic Champions League qualification and the prospect of this term's newly-formatted competition, the manager spoke freely on what appears to be a distinct shift in focus.

Domestic triumphs, especially the Scottish Premiership, are clearly the bedrock of success at Celtic. Making in-roads in Europe is, clearly, a different story entirely but there is much to look forward to in the coming weeks and months as the new-look UCL league phase now extends into the new year by default.

"For me, I want us to be able to get into a play-off position and I think that it’s the balance because you’re playing teams that are really high level, but you’ve now got eight games," Rodgers said on what European success might look like.

"We are also being realistic as well, the club has only won one game in so many years at home. That should not stop us from pushing, and I think that with the right quality of players at that level that can help us, I believe we can do that. I’ve got every confidence that we can do that."

One recent former player who feels tailor-made for this new journey is Jota – a player who also feels perfect for Rodgers' style of play, and one who, if still among Celtic's options, could have solved problems on the pitch in this new term.

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Looking back over the last few years of Celtic in Europe, one goal that stands to mind as particularly noteworthy was Kyogo's against Ferencvaros in October 2021 in the Europa League group stages.

Besides being an especially well-worked and well-executed goal, in hindsight this feels like a Brendan Rodgers' team goal – with a fast break, a high-press, a dynamite pass with expert vision from Jota, and Kyogo back to his best with the deftest of touches and coolest of finishes.

Whether or not Celtic can replicate something like the above on Europe's grandest stage remains to be seen, but with the right service that goal stands as a stark reminder of what the Celtic forward is capable of under pressure.

With the manager pushing for better results against the best opposition in club football, the next few weeks of the transfer window will be crucial – and then it's over to the players to do their bit on the pitch.