ARJEN ROBBEN, Bayern Munich’s star player, last night tipped Celtic to go on and enjoy tangible success if as expected they reach the knock-out stage of this season's Europa League.

And he even suggested it was not impossible for them to reach the final itself.

The Dutchman was adamant the Scottish champions are good enough, and play the right kind of football, which could well lead them on a prolonged a run in European football’s second tournament.

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Should Celtic and Anderlecht both lose their penultimate group match this month, in Paris and at home to Munich respectively, then the Belgians, in the final round of fixtures, would have to better the Glasgow side’s 3-0 victory in Brussels last month to finish above them, which given they have failed to score a goal in their previous four matches is highly unlikely.

Brendan Rodgers’s double-goal at the start of the season was firstly to make the Champions League group stage and then still be in European football after Christmas, which his team are now odds-on to achieve.

And despite Celtic losing 2-1 to Bayern Munich on Tuesday night, the manner in which they went about the game did not go un-noticed by their opponents.

“Celtic have a great chance to progress in the Europa League, especially at Parkhead with that kind of crowd,” said Robben.

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“I really enjoyed the atmosphere. The fans are something special. That is something that can be very helpful - it’s one of the best I’ve seen in Europe.

“They gave me a great reception when I came off and that was very respectful and I’m very thankful for that because it’s not usual.

“If it’s 14 years since they reached a European final, as you said, then I wish them all the best and I hope they can be successful and maybe get there again.”

Jupp Heynckes, Bayern’s legendary manager, was also full of praise for the manner in which Celtic performed just two weeks after a sobering 3-0 defeat in Bavaria.

“Celtic were magnificent, and not just in terms of commitment and determination,” said the veteran coach. "They played good football too.

"Scottish supporters, especially Celtic fans, really get behind their team. All credit to our opponents who made it incredibly difficult for us.”

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Rodgers and Robben know each other from when the Irishman was a youth coach at Chelsea in 2004, and the winger admitted to being pleasantly surprised by Celtic’s football - but not by what Rodgers has achieved in Glasgow.

“I see a more European than British style in Celtic and that’s why you have to give a big compliment to Brendan Rodgers,” said Robben.

“You can see his print on the team, the way they want to play. They want to play football, build up from the back and they did very well.

“I know Brendan from Chelsea. He was working with the academy, the second team, and I trained with him a few times and played one or two friendly matches when I was coming back from injury.

“I really liked his philosophy and the way he thinks about football, trying to play attacking football. He’s also a very good man.

“You could see he would progress and he’s already done well in his managerial career and it’s great for Celtic to get him - it was good to meet him again.

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“They did a lot better than they did in Munich where we also played a little bit better. We had some difficulties and didn’t play our best game.

“It was also our third game in six days so the rhythm wasn’t there. But we are happy to win. The main thing for us in Glasgow was to get through to the next round and Celtic made it very difficult for us.

“We have to pay a big compliment to them. They played with a lot of intensity.

“They threw everything they had into the game. Most of the time we had control of the game but there were times when Celtic were dangerous.”

Bayern defender Niklas Suler conceded his team was slightly fortunate to edge the result.

“Celtic did really well and caused us problems. Luckily we’ve won and we’re through to the last sixteen,” he said.

“It could have gone the other way, but we know our strengths and our ability to fight back. We tried to stay cool and play our football. It worked out at the end.”