FOOTBALL fans revel in the failures of their rivals, those of larger, richer and more successful clubs especially, as much as they celebrate their own triumphs.

So there will have been a fair few supporters of Aberdeen, Dundee, Hibs Kilmarnock and Rangers – actually, make that every follower of Rangers – who will have been hoping to witness Celtic stumble last night.

Yet, all Ladbrokes Premiership clubs, and all of those who compete in the lower leagues of Scottish football for that matter, should welcome their progress to the Champions League play-off and hope they can now go one step further.

Read more: 'Sensational': Brendan Rodgers hails triumphant Celtic

Having a representative in the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition alongside the likes of Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid benefits all of them, not just the participants, significantly.

It was estimated that Celtic banked over £30 million from their Group C games against Barca, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Manchester City last term. But they were not the only ones to profit financially. Every one of their top flight adversaries cashed in as well.

UEFA distribute a pot of almost £80 million to the leagues of competing clubs. So every Premiership outfit, Hamilton Academical, Partick Thistle and St. Johnstone included, all pocketed around £200,000 without so much as kicking a ball. They will be looking forward to that welcome payday once again.

Scotland’s placing in the UEFA rankings, currently at a lowly 26th, would also have been affected if Celtic had gone out last night. That would have impacted negatively on our leading clubs’ future involvement in the Champions League and Europa League.

But it is not just the coefficient which will be bolstered should Scott Brown and his team mates go on and achieve their objective.

Read more: 'Sensational': Brendan Rodgers hails triumphant Celtic

Rangers losing to Luxumbourgian minnows Progres Niederkorn in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League was embarrassing for the Ibrox club and their longsuffering followers. It was, though, also bad for the reputation of the national game in this country.

Celtic winning in such fine fashion and in such demanding circumstances has repaired some of the damage done.

This was one of the biggest tests which Brendan Rodgers has faced since being appointed Celtic manager last summer and it proved to be one of his finest personal performances.

His charges were as impressive in the Lerkendal Stadium as they had been disappointing at Parkhead seven days earlier and Rodgers has to take great credit for that turnaround.

He made three alterations to his starting line-up and his side was transformed as a result. They dominated possession, created far better scoring chances and should have been, and probably would have been if they had been able to deploy a recognised striker, ahead at half-time.

Kristoffer Ajer, Oliver Ntcham and Tom Rogic dropped out and Erik Sviatchenko, Jonny Hayes and Callum McGregor came in. They played with far greater directness and energy as a result of the changes.

Read more: 'Sensational': Brendan Rodgers hails triumphant Celtic

Ajer sustained an injury in the 5-0 win over Sunderland in a pre-season friendly on Wearside on Saturday and was unavailable for the tie against his countrymen in his native Norway.

Fortunately for his team mates, Erik Sviatchenko, who had missed the first leg and the game at the weekend due to a muscle strain, was passed fit to play. The centre half came close to opening the scoring with the first chance of the match when he got on the end of a Hayes free-kick and headed towards goal.

The Danish defender limped off midway through the first half after sustaining a knee injury and was replaced by Nir Bitton. But the visitors still continued to control proceedings. James Forrest shot over, Brown tested the keeper with a long-range attempt and Scott Sinclair should really have netted when a chance fell to him inside the six yard box.

Craig Gordon, despite facing the vastly-experienced Danish striker Nicklas Bentdner, was hardly involved.

Rogic was moved up front in the first leg in the absence of both Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths and struggled. James Forrest got the chance to show what he could do in attack last night and fared little better. Strangely, he broke the deadlock when he moved to his favoured berth on the right wing.

Griffiths, who had been suspended as well as unavailable with a calf injury in the first leg, came on for Hayes in the 57th minute and made an immediate difference. Almost immediately, he supplied Sinclair in front of goal.

Read more: 'Sensational': Brendan Rodgers hails triumphant Celtic

But it was Forrest who got the all-important away goal after receiving the ball from Sinclair and drilling it beyond Rosenborg keeper Andre Hansen and into the net off the underside of the crossbar from an impossibly acute angle.

Having gone undefeated domestically and won only the fourth treble in their history last season, doing better in the Champions League, possibly even reaching the knockout rounds, was seen by many observers as a natural progression for this Celtic side.

Much will depend on who they are paired with in the play-off at the draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon tomorrow morning. But that certainly now looks to be a realistic goal after this outstanding showing and result against Rosenborg.