It wouldn’t be Celtic away from home in Europe without the needless angst. The nagging sensation that their entire night could have been a little easier than than it felt at times.
This was never another one of those tumble-dryer games, as they were once memorably described by Brendan Rodgers.
The butt-clenching panic of Be’er Sheva or Astana was mercifully absent, the suspicion Rosenborg lacked the attacking quality to ask serious questions proving well founded.
Brendan Rodgers has guided Celtic through to Champions League third round of qualifying
Rodgers spent much of the game in the dugout as his side prevented Rosenborg from playing
Celtic captain Scott Brown shakes hands with his Rosenborg counterpart Mike Jensen
Celtic’s Craig Gordon makes an excellent range after he was tested from distance
For the second year in succession, Scotland’s champions travelled to Trondheim and avoided the loss of a goal. They grew in composure as the game wound to its weary conclusion.
The combination of poor finishing from the Norwegians and the solid, mature defending of inexperienced central defenders Jack Hendry and Kristoffer Ajer secured a comfortable progression to the third qualifying round where AEK Athens threaten a sterner test. And yet.
Rodgers set his team the goal of scoring first. Removing the wind from a Rosenborg team chasing their first appearance in the group stages since 2007 by killing the tie stone dead in the early stages. It proved an optimistic game plan.
Celtic’s first-half performance was uncharacteristic in key areas. The passing, movement, defending, decision-making and attacking bore the hallmarks of edginess. The second-half game management improved, the much-maligned Hendry and his defensive partner Ajer defying pre-match concerns over their occasional flakiness by heading every Rosenborg onslaught to safety.
Ultimately, they got the job done. Yet, despite their canary yellow away shirt, there was little of the brightness of the first leg in Glasgow. In the first period they made life more difficult for themselves then they had to.
On a sunny evening in remote Trondheim, the Lerkendal Stadium was barely half full, a crowd of just over 12,000 reflecting an air of weary pessimism over Rosenborg’s chances.
Celtic came here 12 months ago and won 1-0 after a James Forrest goal. Unsurprisingly, Rodgers went once again with the starting 11 who last week overcame the set-back of an early away goal for the lively left back Birger Meling in Glasgow before going on to win 3-1.
In truth, the Celtic manager’s options were limited by injuries to Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths, while central defenders Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic were unavailable for other reasons.
In the pre-match press conference, Rodgers had offered a blunt admission. Celtic have a weaker squad now than they did at this stage last season. Progress here over a pretty average Rosenborg team is unlikely to have shifted that impression.
Rosenborg’s Tore Reginiussen tries to close down the pass of Celtic’s Osonee Edouard
Celtic’s Scott Sinclair goes up to win the ball from Vegar Eggen Hedenstad on Wednesday
Celtic’s Olivier Ntcham manages to use his skill before going past Anders Trondsen
James Forrest makes the most of a water break during the second leg of the tie
The Parkhead boss repeatedly preaches the need for calm at this level. Yet his team were rushed and harried in the first 45 minutes by a home team in a hurry to ask some questions. There were times when the answers were less convincing than they might have been.
Fears of a white-shirted torrent proved groundless. Yet Rosenborg’s confidence visibly grew during a first period when Meling had the run of the left flank and they crafted chances. Many of them the result of Celtic edginess.
Exhibit A came in 16 minutes, a dangerous whipped ball into the area from Pal Andre Helland left by Ajer and spotted late by Craig Gordon, the Celtic keeper spilling the ball as Hendry threatened to dribble the ball into his own net.
Within three minutes, attacker Alexander Soderlund was hooking a volleyed effort wide of Gordon’s right hand post from the penalty spot.
Bit by bit, Celtic were dropping deeper, struggling to find any cohesion or respite when they made it over the halfway line.
If the home team weren’t quite working up a head of steam, they were certainly forcing the visitors to breathe a little more heavily. The fact they needed to run a little more every time they give the ball away barely helped.
Celtic’s fans travelled in their numbers to Norway so they could watch their side in action
Both sides line up ahead of the Champions League second round of qualifying tie
With more quality, the Norwegian champions might have forged the first-half lead they probably deserved.
Tore Reginiussen, the central defender, cut inside from the left and smashed a low right foot shot inches wide of Gordon’s left-hand post. Yet, despite the possession, Celtic’s No1 was relatively untroubled until the final seconds of the first half, when Marius Lundemo rose above Ajer to bullet a header towards goal. Gordon sprung upwards to push the ball over the crossbar and the visitors made it to half-time unbreached. Just.
Yet any delusion that this tie was already over had been solidly dismissed. Celtic had 45 minutes to hold ont o a place in the third qualifying round. For that to happen they had to improve in key areas.
The early signs were promising. Odsonne Edouard, Rosenborg’s tormentor-in-chief with two goals in Glasgow, came to within inches of nicking a game-killing goal within moments of the restart. He exchanged passes with Callum McGregor on the halfway line before advancing with menace to curl a rising shot inches over the junction of upright and bar.
Strictly speaking, Celtic didn’t need the goal. What they did at the other end was more pressing. And, as the second half progressed, the composure shown by the youthful central defence of Ajer and Hendry offered the stability they required.
Rosenborg forced Gordon into another fine save in 65 minutes, substitute Jonathan Levi turning Kieran Tierney inside out before thudding a rasping shot at goal.
But Celtic’s game management was improving, every minute on the electronic scoreboard propelling them closer to the promised land of Athens.
This was never a vintage night for Scott Sinclair. Yet the winger came close to heroism when he met a Crisitian Gamboa cross first time and turned it inches wide of the post.
The introduction of Tom Rogic, Ryan Christie and Mikael Lustig reflected the gruelling demands of reaching the Champions League group stages. The sight of Tierney limping from the pitch in the dying moments might be the last thing Rodgers needs right now.
With three minutes to play, Rosenborg finally bundled the ball into the net, howls of derision careering around the stadium as Swiss referee Sandro Scharer blew for a foul on Gordon by Reginiussen, the central defender having been pressed into attack in a final – fruitless – act of desperation.