It was a perfect start to the season for Brendan Rodgers. Celtic flew to a six-game winning streak in the league and even laid down the gauntlet in the new-look Champions League.
Across those seven games, Celtic had put up 25 goals and only allowed two. Then, the Scottish champions had to travel to Germany.
Not only did the match in Dortmund go down as a loss, but the score was so lopsided that the stellar effort they put in against ŠK Slovan Bratislava was essentially nullified, particularly in the goal difference column. Nevertheless, there are plenty of games left to course correct and climb the table.
The Scoreline Says it All
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It took seven minutes for Borussia Dortmund to go ahead, with Emre Can’s converted penalty a sign of the defensive mishaps to come. Daizen Maeda fired home to get Celtic level just two minutes later in a superb bit of attacking play, but it would only prove to be a brief respite.
Two minutes after that, a speedy goal put the hosts back ahead to begin the onslaught. By the end of the first half, it was 5-1 to the German side, which included a hat trick for one of their star players. In the second half, a more resolute Celtic walked onto the pitch, but they couldn’t contain Borussia Dortmund for 45 more minutes.
In the end, 7-1 to Borussia Dortmund was a fitting scoreline for the performance. Even before Dortmund went ahead, their wingers already had the Celtic defence in their pockets. The backline couldn’t handle the speed, while the midfield couldn’t stem the flow to the box, and Kasper Schmeichel looked shaky for the first time this season.
Seeing how well Celtic had been doing up to that point, it’s understandable that Rodgers went in confident and unwilling to adjust the system that has yielded so much success. Going to Borussia Dortmund with confidence is admirable, and on another day, perhaps Celtic would have taken the game to the hosts. Instead, the approach proved a folly.
Walking off with a 7-1 loss wasn’t unwarranted. The upside is that Celtic were already the heavy underdogs from the first whistle anyway. This isn’t one of the games Rodgers would have circled to end in a win when working out how far the Scottish champions can go this season. It’s an embarrassing scoreline, but the loss itself isn’t too damaging.
Many Opportunities to Recover
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Staying perfect in the domestic league, Celtic are now 20th in the Champions League and poised to go to the knockout phase for playoff places. The new format hasn’t been an easy one for top teams to adjust to, and this is why Celtic’s tally is on par with Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Atlético Madrid.
Hitting the first 24 slots is the goal, and the top eight places for automatic progression to the Round of 16 was likely never in Rodgers’ rational thinking. According to the outright odds for online bets, Celtic rank 28th in the competition to win it or make it to the final, which essentially tells us that they’re expected to miss out.
The next match looks like it will be another of the more trying features of Celtic’s fixtures list. It will be a trip to Atalanta, facing the ever-tricky Italian side and its on-fire new striker, Mateo Retegui. They also have a very dangerous speedster in their ranks with Ademola Lookman, who already has three goals and three assists in eight matches.
Atalanta have won and drawn their first two games, so a more measured and conservative approach would be wise for the trip to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia on 23 October. After that, it will be a tricky home game against RB Leipzig, but then it’s on to three very winnable games for an in-form Celtic, two of which will be at home.
The grand finale of Celtic’s eight-game Champions League schedule is Aston Villa. Taking place in the Midlands, it won’t be an easy game by any means, so Celtic will need to capitalise on the easier slate and try to claim at least two more wins – if not three – to ease the pressure coming into this match.
The 7-1 loss wasn’t ideal, but the outcome was not unexpected. Instead, the Scottish champions should shake it off and look to the games against Club Brugge, GNK Dinamo, and Young Boys as occasions when the very best Celtic needs to step onto the pitch.
