Following the exhilarating 5-1 Champions League victory over Slovan Bratislava last week, Celtic fans are eagerly looking forward to matchday two against Borussia Dortmund.
However, this next challenge promises to be significantly tougher. Dortmund were last season’s runners-up in the tournament, ultimately falling to Real Madrid after an impressive journey that included victories over Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
Playing away adds another layer of difficulty, as Celtic historically struggles on the road in Europe. Last season, under Brendan Rodgers, the team failed to score an away goal in the Champions League, suffering 2-0 defeats to both Feyenoord and Lazio and a 6-0 loss to Atletico.
Despite these challenges, there’s a newfound optimism and belief within the squad this season. Players feel they can accumulate enough points to reach a top 24 play-off, and many fans share that sentiment.
James McFadden believes Celtic can spring a surprise against Borussia Dortmund. He points out that the confidence displayed by Rodgers’ players could lead to a positive outcome next Tuesday, despite the odds being stacked against them.
He stated on Open Goal, “It’s going to be a tough match, but given their current confidence, they won’t hold back. They will aim to start strong and play their style of football. We can’t accurately assess Slovan Bratislava’s quality; they seemed poor, but perhaps Celtic was just that impressive. The atmosphere leading up to the match was electric.”
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“I believe the players will embrace the challenge rather than shy away from it, even though it’s going to be tough and a completely different experience. I think they have a real chance to come away with a positive result.
Even Derek Ferguson and Gordon Dalziel, who are also part of the panel, agreed that achieving a positive outcome is possible, highlighting the strong impression Celtic made in their opening match against the Slovakian champions.
Dortmund has shown some signs of vulnerability recently. After undergoing a management change over the summer, they haven’t started their season strongly, suffering a 5-1 defeat to Bundesliga rivals Stuttgart in their latest outing.
This raises some concerns, and it will be interesting to see how they perform against Bochum on Friday night before facing Celtic.
It’s worth noting that Dortmund had a solid performance in their European opener, securing a 3-0 victory against Club Brugge away from home to kick off their Champions League campaign.
Celtic will certainly face a tough test in Germany, but given their current form, there’s every reason for fans to believe they can achieve another impressive result.”
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