Brendan Rodgers reckons Celtic couldn't have got off to a better start in Europe this season and revealed what he told his players at half-time as they went on to defeat Slovan Bratislava 5-1 at Parkhead. 

The Hoops produced a near faultless performance to get three points on board in their first Champions League league phase appearance. 

Liam Scales' first half header got Celtic up and running before Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah chipped in with the other goals on the other side of the interval.

Slovan's consolation came from former Tottenham Hotspur defender Kevin Wimmer's excellent outside of the boot strike. 

But overall Celtic were worthy winners and Rodgers believes his men could've even scored more given the relentless nature of their play leading to several additional opportunities. 

Reflecting on the 90 minutes, Rodgers said: "It's the start that we wanted. I don't think we could've asked for a better start other than having the clean sheet, which was unfortunate that we didn't keep.

"But we know our next few games are really tough games but they are exciting games for us.

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"I thought tonight, we had to make a really good start in the competition, I think we made a fantastic start. We got three points on the board and it's now a back-to-back win at this level from the end of last season, well the last game against Feyenoord to here now. 

"It's little steps but it's important steps moving forward."

Asked what his half-time message was to the players, the Celtic manager replied: "We reiterated we don't need to do anything special, we just have to be us.

"We don't want to put the burden on anyone scoring, so sharing the goals is important. They're such a selfless group. 

"We know it's a long road, but the first steps are important and the steps we made tonight were fantastic.

"The supporters were sensational. We won the last game of last campaign and the first of this, so we're trying to make this place a fortress."

(Image: PA) The goals were shared between five different scorers which was another key factor that pleased Rodgers. 

He added: "There is a mentality where the guys are very clear in what they have to do whether it is an attacking eight and the wingers and the strikers.

"They are such a selfless group who set each other up and you see the areas we want to get into and it is all about the quality of the delivery and the guys delivered it so well."