Soccer

Celtic’s European clash at ‘top team’ Borussia Dortmund excites Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers’s side have now scored 33 goals in nine wins and have yet to concede a goal in the league

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers salutes the fans after the 6-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in Perth. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers salutes the fans after the 6-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in Perth. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Sun Sept 29 2024 - 15:52

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has genuine belief that his team can cause an upset in Dortmund after seeing them maintain their flying start to the season with a 6-0 win against St Johnstone in Perth on Saturday.

The champions swept away their opponents thanks to Kyogo Furuhashi’s double and goals from Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Irish international Adam Idah.

Some of the goals were of the highest quality in terms of the creativity, composure and technical ability in the build-up and further built confidence ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund at Westfalenstadion.

Rodgers’s side have now scored 33 goals in nine wins this season in all competitions and have yet to concede a goal in the league.

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On the prospect of getting a result in Germany, Rodgers said: “Why not? We got there with good attributes in the team, the physicality and the running power that we have.

“You know you are going to be in moments of stress when you’re away but you can see a mentality in how we defend and how compact and tight we are.

“So in those moments when you do have to do that, then you know when you break out of that you have speed in your frontline that can really hurt.

“But we are under no illusions, it’s going to be a brilliant occasion for us to test ourselves against a top team and top players. I can’t wait for it.”

Dortmund warmed up with a 4-2 victory over Bochum in the Bundesliga.

“I watched the game on Friday night and it shows the mentality, they were 2-0 down and they came back to win 4-2,” Rodgers said.

“Make no mistake about it, it’s a team on a really, really high level with top players but I’m really looking forward to see how we measure up against that.

“I think we can create chances, I think we can score goals, and that will be our idea going into the game.”

Cameron Carter-Vickers again missed out in Perth because of a toe injury and remains a doubt for the European tie, but recent signing Auston Trusty impressed in his place.

Rodgers said: “If he’s not available, Auston came in and was excellent. You see his pace and power. He’s playing off that right side but he’s got good balance in his game and he did very, very well. So if Cam’s not available then we have someone who can come straight in.”