Morgan Rogers hit a hat-trick and Ollie Watkins showed exactly why Arsenal want to sign him as Aston Villa went through to the last 16 of the Champions League after a 4-2 win over Celtic.

Rogers was the hero, scoring a treble in front of the watching England manager Thomas Tuchel to earn victory which sealed an impressive debut Champions League group phase for Unai Emery’s men, who finished eighth out of 36 teams.

Watkins has been the subject of a rejected bid, reported to be £60million, from the Gunners this week, with news breaking just hours before the final European league game at Villa Park.

The 29-year-old put the distraction aside as he scored in an eventful game, which also saw him miss a penalty.

Tellingly, he celebrated his goal by tapping the badge and looks certain to remain a Villa player after the transfer window closes on Monday.

Villa needed to win and hope other results went their way to avoid a play-off round and they looked like they would hold up their end of the deal with ease as Rogers scored twice in the opening five minutes.

But Celtic, who were guaranteed a spot in the play-off round before kick-off, hit back before the break with two Adam Idah goals in two minutes.

Watkins put his side ahead, though, as he finally broke his Champions League duck on the hour before Rogers’ third at the death sent Villa through.

Defeat hurt Brendan Rodgers’ side as they will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the play-off round.

Villa’s preparations for the match were unsettled by the unwanted distraction of both of their strikers Watkins and Jhon Duran having interest in them, with the latter set for a move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr.

But they emphatically set about their task early on, surging into a 2-0 lead, with Rogers getting both.

The first came with just 153 seconds on the clock as Jacob Ramsey burst into the penalty area and pulled back for Rogers to slam home from close range.

Villa Park was still bouncing by the time the second went in 90 seconds later as Rogers’ 20-yard effort took a deflection off Liam Scales and looped out of Kasper Schmeichel’s reach.

Celtic were gifted a golden opportunity to get one back when Lucas Digne’s misplaced pass sent Reo Hatate through on goal, but the striker shot straight at Emiliano Martinez.

And moments later, in the 26th minute, it could have been 3-0 when a loose ball fell to Ramsey but his bundled shot hit the post.

An even better chance came in the 33rd minute as Watkins chased his elusive first Champions League goal.

A lightning quick move down the left saw Ramsey pick out Leon Bailey, who teed Watkins up, but the England international’s dinked finish was cleared off the line by Alistair Johnston.

Villa should have been three or four up, but they were pegged back as Celtic hit them with a double salvo of their own.

There was two minutes and 25 seconds between Idah’s goals as he produced two close-range finishes.

First he stabbed home after Greg Taylor’s cross was deflected into his path by John McGinn and then he swept home Hatate’s cross from the right.

Watkins finally broke his deadlock as Villa regained their lead on the hour.

McGinn spearheaded a counter-attack and played in Ramsey, who teed up his team-mate to finish with aplomb.

He had the chance to make it two five minutes later after Villa were awarded a penalty when he was fouled by Auston Trusty.

But he slipped at the vital moment and his spot-kick ballooned off his standing foot and high over the crossbar.

Rogers killed the game at the death when he converted from close range after Watkins teed him up.

After a nervous wait for Atalanta’s game at Barcelona to finish, there were huge celebrations as Villa’s spot in the last 16 was confirmed.