Chelsea hero Joe Cole has hailed the "special" atmosphere at Celtic Park after their thumping opening matchday win over Slovan Bratislava.

The pundit cited the famed atmosphere on European nights at Parkhead as he discussed Celtic's chances of progress beyond the league phase in the Champions League.

And Cole admitted the backing at Celtic is so strong that he was even "rooting for them" after being taken aback by the passion of supporters in Glasgow.

So impressed was Cole by the 5-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava for Brendan Rodgers' side that he reckons they have a shot at progression into the knockout stages.

"They'll be on top of the world. A club like Celtic, they bring so much to the Champions League.

"The atmosphere, you talk to great players who have played all over Europe at all the big stadiums, and playing at Celtic it really is special.

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"It has got something so you want them to do well, you are rooting for them.

"They will take so much confidence, listen, this is Bratislava and they should win but it's the way they won it.

"Brendan has got them playing and they have got enough quality. It will be interesting to see.

"I don't expect them to go through as one of the top clubs but if they can get a play-off place and keep going in the tournament, that would be good."

New York Times journalist Rory Smith added: "In Antonio Conte's autobiography, he specifically says, 'you should really go to Celtic Park, it is very noisy' - that's a man who played in all those Italian stadiums in the 1990s so that's an advantage for Celtic.

"This competition in this format kind of suits them."