WHEN Celtic first played in the Champions League back in 2001 they finished with an unwanted record.

Martin O’Neill’s very fine side became the first to win nine points from six group stage games and not finish second, therefore meaning they didn’t get through to the knock-out stage.

O’Neill got closer in 2003, the season after Seville, when a draw in Lyon would have been enough for him and at 2-2 Bobo Balde inexplicably handled the ball inside the box giving the French a penalty which they scored.

More than one eyewitness has since confirmed that so angry was the manager, he threw up in the toilet on the team plane a few hours after the match. That was as close as O’Neill got to the last 16.

Gordon Strachan twice made it through the group stage. Once he faced Barcelona and while losing made a decent fist of it, and in 2007 his Celtic took on AC Milan and only an extra-time goal from Kaka, then the world's best player, was the difference. And they were denied two penalties in the San Siro.

Neil Lennon, who captained that night in Italy, made it through as well when manager but Juventus proved too strong. However, it was seen a success and rightly so.

Finishing second, or first – why not go wild, is the only thing Brendan Rodgers has yet to achieve at Celtic. A treble in an undefeated domestic campaign which saw them reach the group stage is almost impossible to equal never mind top.

After Astana on Tuesday night, and there is still a bit of work to go, Rodgers will have led the club for a second year in a row to a stage which last season he said they had no real right to be in. Things have changed a lot over the last 12 months.

Celtic’s demolition of Astana would have been noticed all over Europe. No side wins 5-0 in the play-offs and while the men from Kazakhstan are hardly world beaters, many would have viewed this tie as a 50/50.

That victory was achieved without some key players and Patrick Roberts who will sign over the next few days. When everyone is back, including the English winger, and perhaps another striker, it could be argued that Rodgers has a better squad than O’Neill’s but perhaps not a better team for one reason only.

He doesn’t have Henrik Larsson.

However, the current Celtic manager does have another quite important thing going for him. He can rest his best players the weekend before a Champions League match and still be pretty certain of winning in the Premiership.

Rodgers perhaps wouldn’t drop Leigh Griffiths and Scott Brown for a Rangers match or a trip to Pittodrie but Celtic have incredible strength in depth which means, unlike his predecessors, he has the comfort of being able to put out a second to third string team and dominate just about everyone.

Take Saturday for example. It was hard not to feel for Kilmarnock who kept themselves in the game at Rugby Park and yet never had a hope of beating a weakened Celtic side – and to be honest there wasn’t much weakness on show.

The back four was Anthony Ralston, 18, Kristoffer Ajer, 19, Kieran Tierney, 20, and Calvin Miller who is also 19. Craig Gordon didn’t have a save to make worth of the name.

Both full-backs were outstanding. Miller won man of the match, he was superb, but keep an eye on Ralston who is some size for a wean. He has a touch, reads the game well, is calm on the ball and is the kind of defender no winger wants to take on.

Griffiths didn’t start and, Moussa Dembele isn’t available. Neither are Erik Sviatchenko or Dedryck Boyata while the only fit centre-half, Jozo Simunovic, wasn’t risked.

Mikael Lustig, Nir Bitton, Olivier Ntcham and Scott Sinclair were on the bench. That’s a pretty decent team from those who weren’t in the starting eleven.

O’Neill didn’t like changing his team too much and, in fact ,when you speak to his players today one or two will say that was a mistake because there were times in Europe when they didn’t feel as fresh as they might have done.

Of course, when the league is tight, or at least tighter than it will be this season, dropping just one of the top men for a game in Scotland is a no-no.

Rodgers, however, has this luxury and it is why there is a chance, nothing more than that, his Celtic can finish second in their group, if the draw is kind to them. Not that there is ever an easy group.

Celtic’s win on Saturday came courtesy of goals from James Forrest and Callum McGregor, with Tom Rogic as the architect. The Australian might not look like a player, he’s too gangly, but what a footballer he has turned out to be.

He’s not blessed with pace, nor is he someone who can go full pelt for 90 minutes, but when on the ball, no marker can get near the Australian as produces flicks, tricks, and step-overs.

Poor Kilmarnock. That’s twice they have met a supposed under-strength Celtic and been well beaten.

That’s no points from three games and while it would appear they are in bother, Lee McCulloch has enough about him to know his team have shown in glimpses that they are better than the results have shown.

Celtic are in the same league as them but that’s where the similarities stop.