The Celtic story in the Champions League in the last decade has been wearily familiar, with the storied Glasgow fortress of old fading into distant memory, replaced with tales of defensive woe and a stack of painful losses.
Rodgers part in that – despite continued domestic dominance – has also come under scrutiny, with the Northern Irishman managing just two wins as Celtic boss in 18 games in the Champions League prior to this one.
Here they were presented with a huge opportunity to win their opening game at the 13th attempt, against a Slovan side with less means and making their first appearance at this level.
Rodgers himself said this was the best he had ever felt coming into a European campaign after a strong summer window and start to the domestic season.
There was pressure, then, to make a mark and they duly did with a slick performance which provided too much for the Slovakian champions.
Record signing Engels was hugely influential as Celtic passed with purpose and speed, as well as hounding their visitors every time they lost the ball.
Engels, Kyogo, and Maeda all could have netted hat-tricks such was Celtic’s dominance as they repeatedly worked the ball neatly through midfield and down the sides of the porous Bratislava backline.
With trips to Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta, plus a home game against RB Leipzig to come, the tests will only get sterner from now.
However, this performance here re-ignited the European fire at Celtic Park and sets them up well to make a fist of reaching the play-off round in this revamped format, where a place in the top 24 keeps the campaign going.