5 reasons why Borussia Dortmund will beat Celtic in the UEFA Champions League
Now synonymous with the Champions League thanks to their third-ever final last season, Borussia Dortmund are right back at it on Matchday 2 with the fascinating visit of Scottish giants Celtic.
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Both teams won their European openers with ease, but here are five reasons why it will be Dortmund again who come away victorious...
1) The second-best team in Europe?
On last season’s evidence, there was only one team better than BVB in the Champions League - the side who beat them in the Wembley final: Real Madrid. Dortmund, then led by Edin Terzić, were widely considered to be the better side until Real’s late show which saw them overcome some big names on their path to the final.
BVB made their way out of the season’s ‘Group of Death’ and even topped it ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle. They then took down PSV, Atletico Madrid, and PSG once more.
Assistant coach Nuri Şahin has since stepped up to the top job and, despite a summer of change, there’s no reason to think that the Ruhr giants' pedigree will have deserted them.
2) The Gittens dilemma
Dortmund’s joint-most productive player this season is still a relatively unknown quantity for Celtic’s scouts. Jamie Gittens, the 20-year-old England winger, has three starts and four substitute appearances to his name this season, meaning Brendan Rodgers and his coaching team have a difficult task of working out how to prepare for him.
How Gittens will be deployed isn’t the only conundrum for Celtic: the winger has four goals and an assist this term, and his strikes have been absolutely delightful. Now free from injury for the first extended period after graduating from BVB’s academy, Gittens is capable of taking over a match out of nowhere. The Scottish giants could well be facing him at the worst possible time after his two goals against Club Brugge last time out.
Watch: The best of Jamie Gittens
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3) Home comforts
Dortmund were left shocked in their most recent match when they found themselves 2-0 down to Bochum with 21 minutes on the clock. However, they had something special on their side - a factor that has been like a super power in recent months: the Signal Iduna Park.
The 81,365 capacity stadium rose to its feet and helped BVB respond with four unanswered goals to make it nine games unbeaten at home. In fact, that stat doesn’t do their record justice, as eight of those results have been wins, while the only draw was a last-gasp equaliser from the previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen.
Since August 2022, BVB have amassed an outrageous home record of 33 wins and only four defeats in 46 games, meaning Celtic will have to come up with something rather special to upset the Yellow Wall.
4) A new idol
Dortmund fans were understandably quite gutted when joint top scorer and cult hero Niclas Füllkrug departed in the summer, but match by match he’s quickly being forgotten.
Signed from Stuttgart as the new big man up top, Serhou Guirassy started the campaign with an injury issue but has taken no time at all to find his flow since returning to action. After a quiet debut, he has scored four in three games, including an unstoppable double against Bochum last time out.
Watch: Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Bochum - highlights
Guirassy’s total of 28 goals last season was the second-highest in Europe’s top five leagues, ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. With the Guinea international showing no adjustment issues so far, Celtic will have a tough time keeping him scoreless.
5) History on their side
Given that both sides have glorious histories that include Champions League gold, it’s no surprise that they have met before. The only real shock is that they’ve only faced off in Europe’s second tier.
Dortmund and Celtic have clashed in the UEFA Cup twice, once in 1987/88 and again in 1992/93. On both occasions the Germans progressed, and on top of that, they won three out of the four matches in the pair of two-legged ties.
The latter affair saw Dortmund head all the way to the final, where they were defeated by Juventus. Nevertheless, they won’t have any fear or inferiority complex heading into their first Champions League meeting with Celtic.
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