Like most Scottish clubs in recent times, apart from Rangers' run to the Europa League final in 2022, Celtic have struggled to compete in Europe, particularly the Champions League.

Their last five group stage appearances have all ended in early exits, and they have not progressed beyond the last 16 since losing to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals in 1980.

Poor starts have been the big problem, as, remarkably, Celtic have never won the opening game of a Champions League campaign, drawing two and losing ten.

However, having won all five of their league games so far this season without conceding a goal, Brendan Rodgers' side should go into this winnable encounter full of confidence.

Some might argue that Celtic's eight opponents in the new format are about as kind as they could have been drawn, including their opening day clash with competition debutants Slovan.

The Scottish champions also face arguably the two weakest sides in Pot One in RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund, while they have Club Brugge at home in Pot Two.

In Pot Three, they have more lower-division sides in Young Boys and Dinamo Zagreb, but they have to travel to Villa Park after being drawn with Aston Villa in Pot Four.

However, their Slovakian visitors will be keen to ensure they are not seen as pushovers in their first Champions League game in the competition.

Slovan are only the fourth Slovakian club to qualify - the first since Zilina 14 years ago - and will be aiming to become the first team from the country to make it past this stage.

What makes their qualification even more special is the fact that they had to go through all four rounds of qualifying, beating Struga Trim & Lum, Celje, APOEL Nicosia and Midtjylland to get there.

The Conference League was Slovan's best friend, having qualified for the competition in all three iterations prior to this season, and those escapades may have given them more knowledge and experience of competing in Europe after the summer.

While Vladimir Weiss's men have been handed one of the toughest draws in the competition, they do have some dream fixtures to look forward to, including a trip to the atmospheric Celtic Park.

There are also visits from Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, while Manchester City and AC Milan will be in the Slovakian capital during the league phase.

This match could be seen as one of their best opportunities to pick up points, but Slovan have lost their last five games against British clubs and are without a win in nine since beating Derby County in 1975.

Weiss's men are top of the Slovakian top flight after a 2-1 win over Dunajska Streda at the weekend, which made up for a shock 5-0 home defeat to Zilina just after they had qualified for the league phase.

Celtic possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor: Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Kyogo, Maeda

Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:

Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Bajric, Wimmer; Szoke, Kucka, Tolic; Barseghyan, Strelec, Weiss Jr

Prediction:Celtic 2-2 Slovan Bratislava

Celtic VS Slovan Bratislava stream and TV listing

International：Holasports