In the aftermath of Celtic's 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Germany, the home side's supporters were quick to identify a facet of Celtic's play the Parkhead outfit is more familiar with in reverse.
While heaping praise on their team's dominant display on Matchday Two of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign, a number of Dortmund fans observed how while attempting to play on the front foot, Celtic left themselves open at the back.
When playing domestically, Celtic tend to find teams either sit and become difficult to break down, or they play openly and allow Celtic to attack the game.
In the Scottish Premiership, it's more common for visiting teams to adopt the former strategy, whereas in games like Celtic's 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava, Brendan Rodgers' side were able to manipulate space all over the pitch to their advantage.
Taking to the Dortmund sub Reddit, one user said: "There is no team in Germany that would play like this against us in Germany. Maybe Bayern, but they would have the skills to back it up" – while suggesting other teams would sit in and defend with a low block.
"Why did Celtic play with such a high line?" asked another, "for that, they played into [Dortmund's] hands, especially when we were on the break."
Another Dortmund fan said: "Celtic tried to play football against a better side, simple. We had some great performances, but also Celtic were really poor and lacked pragmatism."
Read more:
- Celtic's Rodgers praises 'incredible' Borussia Dortmund
- Lambert's brutal assessment of Scottish football after Celtic failure
In his post-match press conference, Celtic manager Rodgers stuck to his guns and said he'll always set his team up to play this style of football.
When asked if he'd have changed anything in hindsight, the Irishman said: "No, not really. I think it's one that we went in high in confidence. The team's been playing ever so well. We were in a really, really good place.
"But I think we needed to start the game much better than we did. We gave away cheap goals. We analysed the game back but there were certain issues, and positioning that we would have to be better at.
"We got punished for passes and loose bits of play which at this level like you've seen tonight, they will punish you. It was absolutely ruthless in the finishing. It was incredible to see. Unfortunately for us, we were on the back of it."
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