In his 50th European game in charge of Celtic, Brendan Rodgers took his team to face Borussia Dortmund’s famous Yellow Wall. Again though, his side ran into their own personal brick wall when it comes to such away assignments at this level, and in humiliating fashion.
Rarely in any of those matches before Rodgers brought up his half century in continental competition, particularly one where his side were without the home comforts of Celtic Park, has he led his team into a fixture with such confidence surrounding their prospects.
Even allowing for the small matter of facing last season’s Champions League finalists, and Rodgers’ previous record of winning just once away from Glasgow in this competition as manager of the club, there was genuine belief among the 4000 supporters that travelled to the west of Germany that this could be an evening to live long in the memory. It was, in the end, but for all the wrong reasons.
The fact that Celtic fans were so ebullient about their side’s chances is a reflection on their form and on the strength of their squad. This was the acid test of his team, though, Rodgers had said before the match, and he was hell-bent on seeing how his team measured up on their own terms.
In the end, they failed to do so, and in wearily familiar, painful fashion. The bullishness about their chances of pulling off a famous win turned out to be as misplaced as any one of their numerous kamikaze inside passes that Dortmund – and the unplayable Karim Adeyemi in particular – greedily feasted upon.
Celtic had batted Slovan Bratislava aside in their opening Champions League fixture by five goals to one, but the fact they were on the end of the same scoreline by the half time interval here was a sobering reminder of the place the Scottish champions occupy in the European food chain.
Or, perhaps, Scottish football as a whole. When the national side came to Germany in the summer set up for damage limitation, they took a pounding in any case. So, Rodgers may have felt that Celtic were damned if they abandoned their front-foot principles, and likely damned if they didn’t.
To make no concessions though to the pace and power of the German side on their own patch proved to be folly.
With no Cameron Carter-Vickers, it was down to compatriot Auston Trusty to compensate for his absence on just his third start for the club, but like so many have struggled to in the past, he couldn’t do so.
Along with Liam Scales, who was consistently being pulled out of the central area by striker Serhou Guirassy to leave a gaping hole at the heart of the Celtic defence, Trusty was excruciatingly exposed. In fairness though, it is doubtful if Carter-Vickers would have made much of a difference.
Not when possession was being ceded so carelessly in front of the backline. When they were pressed and stressed in a manner they are unaccustomed to, Celtic coughed up the ball consistently, and in critical areas.
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They had a warning shot across the bows even before Dortmund took an early lead, as a bold Celtic start gave way to over-confidence. Trusty managed to stop Adeyemi in the nick of time on that occasion, but it was only a hamstring injury early in the second half that stopped him adding to the three goals he bagged in a blistering opening 45 minutes. A rare moment of fortune and clemency for Celtic on the night.
Jamie Gittens enjoyed his own slice of luck for the opener, and by the time he was in the area and dancing around Kasper Schmeichel, the keeper had little other option but to haul him down. Quite apart from Emre Can slotting home the opener, of more concern was that even the most experienced campaigners in the Celtic side were starting to have their brains scrambled.
There was the briefest and sweetest of moments for the travelling fans where Rodgers’ toe-to-toe approach seemed justified shortly afterwards though, as Arne Engels swung in a cross and Daizen Maeda bundled home, but no sooner had the celebrations died down than Adeyemi was delivering a stiff reality check.
The striking thing about Dortmund’s second goal though was the freedom the outrageously gifted Julian Brandt was afforded to orchestrate the whole affair. There was an embarrassment of unoccupied space between the Celtic backline and Callum McGregor at the base of the midfield, and Brandt exposed it gleefully all night.
Again, the decision not to detail anyone to mind Brandt could be interpreted either as no quarter being given by Rodgers, or less generously, as a dereliction of duty.
Whichever way you view it, not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the Celtic manager for what followed. The fog that enveloped Signal Iduna Park prior to the match when all areas of the ground joined together to give a rousing rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ didn’t really seem to lift from the minds of the majority of the Celtic players.
Engels gave away a daft penalty. Maeda inexplicably presented the ball to Adeyemi on the edge of his own area to bring up his hat trick. And on and on it went.
In the end, it all added up not to a famous night for Celtic like Barcelona in 2012, but one that will live in infamy along with horror nights such as Barcelona in 2017, Paris Saint Germain and Atletico Madrid last season.
It was a humbling, sobering blow, but not a fatal one. Rodgers’ current Celtic team are not, as it turns out, anywhere near the level of Borussia Dortmund. But neither are any of their remaining opponents in the league phase.
If Rodgers went out swinging against Dortmund in their own back yard, he is likely to do so against Young Boys, Club Brugge and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park.
This night must be an education for Celtic. These players will have to once again lick their wounds and realise what they cannot get away with at this level. Tactically, Rodgers is unlikely to concede he has learned anything, or that he needs to bend.
His approach proved to be foolhardy on the night. But Rodgers may yet have the last laugh, with the dream of qualification still there to be reached for, despite Celtic crashing back to earth with a bump.
