Chris Sutton delivered a typically brutal assessment of Celtic Champions League defeat from Borussia Monchengladbach.
After the excitement of a 3-3 draw with Manchester City the German side delivered a reality check on where Celtic stand with a 2-0 win more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
The goals lost were certainly avoidable but the hoops had Craig Gordon and some good fortune to thank for going in on level terms at the interval.
Sutton was in the BT Sport commentary box watching his old club being exposed as the reality of facing the side that finished fourth in last season’s Bundesliga.
.@btsportfootball Disappointing performance the better team won! But it is the elite level and a tough school! But good to be here in it??????????
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) October 19, 2016
Twelve months ago Sutton was delivering his verdict on a 3-1 defeat from Molde that included a heated exchange between John Collins and Kris Commons.
Tonight’s Celtic side bore no resemblance to the side that lost back-to-back matches against the Norwegian club but the gulf between the champions of Scotland and a decent but not spectacular German side was glaring. The fact that Gladback were without four first picks illustrated the strength in depth that they can call on.
Accepting the result Brendan Rodgers said: “I thought the best team won. There is no argument about that. My players gave absolutely everything tonight. We were up against a top side and our only disappointment was the two goals.
“They didn’t create so much even though they looked dangerous at times on the counter-attack, which a lot of German sides will. We gifted them two goals really.
“I think the players gave absolutely everything into the game. We set out to press them but you see at that level of player that if you are not quite there in your pressing they can play through and round it.
“We had some good spells in the game as well, but we were just beaten by a side that’s very good, technically very strong, fast, with good power and quality. We have no complaints.”
