Dortmund (Reuters)
German Borussia Dortmund placed its Scottish rival, Celtic, in its normal size, in a painful experience for coach Brendan Rodgers, after his team was defeated 7-1 in the European Champions League.
After beating Slovan Bratislava 5-1 at the start of their campaign in the most prestigious European club championship, and after a series of 17 consecutive wins in all competitions, including nine matches this season, Celtic were confident that they had now become a force to be reckoned with, but this dream did not come true. It only lasts a few minutes.
After Celtic fans chanted the club’s anthems, the Scottish team found itself helpless against last season’s European runner-up, with Dortmund scoring five goals before the break.
Among the highlights of the match, Karim Adeyemi scored a hat-trick in the first half to be named Man of the Match.
For the third time in his coaching career, after two resounding 7-0 and 7-1 losses to Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively, in 2016 and 2017, Rodgers watched his team score seven goals in the Champions League.
Rodgers said before the match that facing Dortmund would be a “revealing test” of his team’s capabilities.
He said in frustration afterward, “I do not think I have ever participated in a match before in which we were punished for every mistake we made. It was a painful defeat. We were not at our best. The opponent showed his abilities as a high-class team. We did not start the match in the way we wanted. We entered the match with excessive confidence.” We felt we were in a good position. We should have started the match much better, as we conceded very naive goals and were punished for some errors in play and passes.”
He added, “The opponent finished his attacks very effectively and made an amazing display.”
The former Liverpool and Leicester City coach said before the match that Celtic was playing to fulfill “the fans’ dreams,” adding that the Scottish champions had become a difficult competitor to beat.
But he then said, “My mission is to inspire the players. We must learn from this lesson, otherwise we will be subjected to another punishment at this level.”
