Celtic were battered in Dortmund last night after their own ambition to take the game to last season’s Champions League finalists backfired in spectacular fashion as the German side thrashed the Scottish Champions 7-1…
That leaves Celtic with three points from two games, but the humbling scoreline, combined with the earlier 5-1 victory against Slovan
Bratislava, means Brendan Rodgers’ team is precisely where they anticipated to be at this time.
Atalanta is up next, and the Europa League champions are perhaps a more difficult opponent than Dortmund. If Celtic continue to use the
same techniques, it might be another source of shame for the Celtic supporters, who arrived in their tens of thousands yesterday night.
Paul Lambert played with distinction for both Dortmund and Celtic, and earlier today on talkSPORT, he provided an intriguing analysis
of the root cause of Celtic’s struggles at the Westfalenstadion.”I never stated it yesterday, but that is precisely what may happen in that
stadium. To deal with that atmosphere, you must be a major participant. If you don’t deal with it, that’s exactly what might happen,”
Lambert, who won the Champions League with Dortmund, explained.”I never mentioned it yesterday, but it is exactly what could happen
in that stadium. To cope with that environment, you must be an active participant. If you don’t deal with it, that’s exactly what could
happen,” said Lambert, who won the Champions League with Dortmund.”So you have to look at it in comparison to, rather than as a fan.
I think you have to look at it and say, ‘How did it happen?'”Scotland’s football standards are far from comparable, which is a serious issue.
“I believe there is an insular impression in Scottish football that we have some really good sides; we don’t. The level is no longer there.
“When I played in the Seville game, Martin O’Neill had a fantastic year. Celtic cannot compete financially with Borussia Dortmund.
Rangers are a complete mess right now, therefore they cannot compete.”But you’re talking clubs that are global, worldwide football clubs
that can fill any stadium in the world if you give them the ticket base but there’s no way that Scottish football can compete with teams like
that, Borussia Dortmund, it’s impossible for them to do it because of the revenue.”There are factors, but they do not provide the complete
picture. Celtic must understand when to press, attack, and, most importantly, defend. Celtic essentially played the same way they did
against St Johnstone the previous weekend, but the difference was that Dortmund was also playing offensive football, and Celtic’s tactics
worked in their favour.As we mentioned on The Celtic Star today, Celtic had only surrendered four goals in nine competitive matches this
season. Last night, they conceded five goals in 42 minutes, becoming the first British team in 27 years to do it in the first half of a
European group stage match.
Losing seven goals is terrible, and it is not an isolated incident, with Dortmund joining Barcelona and PSG in inflicting seven-goal defeats
on Celtic teams, all led by Brendan Rodgers. However, Celtic has been unstoppable domestically during his two periods there.
Bridging the Champions League gap must be the primary goal. Celtic are cash rich and can easily afford to improve the squad further in
January and again in the following summer.
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