Every Celtic fan knew that Tuesday evening’s Champions League clash with German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund would be a completely different kettle of fish to our League Stage opener against Slovan Bratislava, when we welcomed them to Parkhead in mid September.
We went into the Slovan clash as favourites and we proved to be just that with goals coming from Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah in a 5-1 victory and the scoreline could have been higher. However, the same open, attacking approach against Dortmund was never going to work (even though we were on a run of 17 straight wins) and was likely going to backfire given their individual and team qualities, and sadly for us that was also exactly how it played out as we fell to a roundly comprehensive 7-1 defeat with Maeda scoring our consolation at Signal Iduna Park.
Fans would have feared that kind of approach coming back to haunt us once again, and it was certainly a topic of conversation amongst the pundits, as it is akin to picking the same number on a casino roulette wheel even though it has not come up in the last decade.
But as gaffer Brendan Rodgers reflected on the game, he was full of praise for the performance of the hosts, yet admitted that he still has no plans to temper our preferred style of play even when we are playing one of the European leagues considered heavier hitters who could really cause us damage if they are on song.
In trying to go toe to toe again, it goes down as another European night to forget, particularly for our travelling faithful, and we have been here before. It is the third time we have conceded seven on Europe’s biggest stage (Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain) and we were also hit for six by Atletico Madrid last season, yet we keep failing to learn the lesson that unlike our domestic campaign, sometimes a draw should be considered a fantastic result in European competition.
It is not defeatist, weak or shameful – on occasions playing for the draw whilst waiting for that telling chance is a sensible approach as the game is about results. At the very least, play tight for the first half, frustrate them and get their fans on their backs as a minimum.
Chase chances from the get go, leave yourself wide open and fail to be streetwise…well…that is not being positive, that is being suicidal against some sides and encouraging them to ruthlessly exploit you ultimately.
Unfortunately for us, it is not the first time, we have long had European issues. Last season’s Feyenoord win ended a decade long group stage run at home, and our last victory on the road was back in 2017.
Now, although Rodgers was right to praise Dortmund’s performance, many will feel that he has again missed the real point as he talked about the confidence we went into the game with, and focused in on our need to have started ‘the game much better than we did.’
Whilst that might be true given we conceded after only seven minutes from the penalty, and were 2-1 behind eleven minutes in, this is why away European clashes specifically should be started with caution, composure, organisation and not uber self belief where you are failing to do the simple things against a side on a completely different level from those you normally face.
There are only so many times we can describe games as a learning curve when we do not learn, but equally with the league changes this year, solid home form will keep us in the qualifying mix, particularly if we reassess our approach to games on our travels.
Nobody should be throwing the toys out of the pram, but it is deeply disappointing and frustrating even though it was always going to be one of the toughest games we have at this stage of the competition. With many believing three wins and a draw will be enough to qualify, we just have to make it happen now.
Image Source: unsplash.com
