Brendan Rodgers has admitted that the Europa League may not be a "glamour competition" compared to the Champions League but is still eager for Celtic fans to get behind the team in the tournament.
The Hoops had qualified for the preliminary rounds of Europe's premier club competition by virtue of last season's Scottish Premiership title win but were knocked out at the third qualifying round stage by AEK Athens.
Celtic were subsequently parachuted into the Europa League playoff round, where they ran out 4-2 winners over FK Suduva on aggregate to seal a place in the group stages of the competition alongside Old Firm rivals Rangers.
"We had the opportunity to get to the Champions League but we didn't take it," Rodgers told BT Sport following Thursday's 3-0 second-leg win at Parkhead.
"This is a competition of great prestige with historical clubs like Arsenal, AC Milan and Lazio. It's a great reward and I'm very much looking forward to the games.
"It's maybe not the glamour competition but we need the support and it was great to see nearly every seat full tonight."
Celtic will find out their fate on Friday at 12pm when the groups are drawn.
Giuseppe Labellarte
