Borussia Dortmund manager Nuri Sahin has dismissed the notion that Celtic head into tonight’s Champions League game at the Westfalenstadion as underdogs…
Despite Sahin’s side struggling to find a rhythm at the beginning of their Bundesliga campaign, Dortmund, like their opponents, got off to a flyer in Europe’s elite club competition with a 3-0 victory in Belgium against Club Brugge.
The Champions League finalists have lost a host of their key players who were integral in reaching Wembley against Real Madrid in June this year. Jadon Sancho, Niclas Fullkrug, Mats Hummels and Marco Reus all departed in the summer. Not only did key players exit the building, so too did BVB’s manager with Edin Terzic leaving the club after two years in charge.
Current boss Sahin who Brendan Rodgers coached as a player for a solitary season at Liverpool during the 2012/2013 season has only had one previous job to the one he currently holds. That was with Antalyaspor in Turkey. The 36 year-old German lacks experience managing at this level.
He is also very aware of the qualities of his opponents tonight, “you’re talking about a team who haven’t lost for many games and haven’t even lost a goal in their league.
“They were very dominant in their first match of the Champions League. What can you say about Celtic? They are a very prestigious club with amazing talent in their squad and a fantastic coach.
“It will be a huge challenge for us, but the same time a big challenge, a huge challenge, which they didn’t have this season, playing in our stadium. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t think it is fair to call them underdogs, to be honest.”
St Johnstone v Celtic – Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates scoring their our first goal of the game during the Scottish Premiership match at McDiarmid Park, Perth on Saturday September 28, 2024. Photo Jane Barlow
Sahin also gave his verdict on the qualities that Celtic possess, “Furuhashi is not a typical striker like we are used to, a big one. But he is very smart, and I really like how he moves off the ball, the timing of his runs. I see a very smart guy there tactically.”
Celtic’s European away record in the Champions League is abject. However, there is a sense the pendulum is starting to swing with the mentality of this current squad. The belief is there to take the next step and be more than competitive at this level. The proof will be in the pudding come 10:00pm tonight.
Conor Spence
