Celtic fans will be ready to move on from their side’s damning Champions League night against Borussia Dortmund that ended in a 7-1 defeat at Signal Iduna Park.
The hosts dictated proceedings from minute one and weren’t fazed by Daizen Maeda’s equaliser, almost immediately scoring up the other end via Karem Adeyemi before the bleeding started.
Make no mistake, Celtic have to take the criticism they’ve faced since full-time on the chin. However, the Bhoys’ Champions League hopes are still intact, there are six more matches in the league phase where points can be taken.
Brendan Rodgers will rue his side’s sloppy nature and noted in his post-match press conference that Dortmund punished ‘every single mistake’ Celtic made.
That statement provides a pretty accurate summary of events that went down in North-Rhine Westphalia, and Mark Wilson believes one man stopped the heavy loss from being even more damaging.
Mark Wilson on Kasper Schmeichel’s Celtic display
Reviewing where Celtic’s night went sour, former Hoops full-back Wilson believes Kasper Schmeichel made several stops that prevented his old club from ending their clash against Dortmund with an even bigger black mark next to their name.
He stated [Sky Sports]: “How do you describe it? I mean, a reality check, a sobering evening probably for Celtic, but it’s just a realistic glimpse of the different levels between sides at the top tier in Europe compared to where Celtic are at this minute in time, that’s what leads to scorelines like tonight.
“Dortmund, very good side, very clinical. I think when Brendan Rodgers analyses the game, he’ll probably see the amount of mistakes his side made in possession.
That’s unlike Celtic domestically, obviously, because they have the large share of the ball and they usually make it count, but Dortmund just let them make their own mistakes, and as soon as they made the mistakes, Dortmund pounced and took their chances.
“If I’m totally honest, 7-1, but I can count four or five times where Schmeichel pulled off some decent saves, so it could’ve been a lot worse for Celtic. I guess when Brendan Rodgers and this Celtic side go away from this game this evening, it’s how do you learn from it?
“What do you do different when you go away to Atalanta, do you change the shape, do you change the way you play? (There were) so many short passes in their defensive third that led to chances or goals, it was incredible, you just wonder if they learn their lesson going into the next round of the Champions League.”
Kasper Schmeichel’s importance to Celtic
Despite the obvious conclusions that can be drawn from last night, Schmeichel is an important part of Celtic’s quest for success this term and his statistics since joining the club back that up.
The Denmark international made six saves last night, but came under relentless fire from an unrelenting Dortmund attack that breached the Bhoys’ backline on many occasions. He also retained an 89% pass accuracy in the face of difficulty that lay in front of him.
Overall, he has kept six clean sheets in ten Celtic appearances, that shouldn’t be forgotten. His father Peter has told his son to take on a role as one of the Hoops’ main ‘leaders in the dressing room’ after the defeat, which is something you imagine he will buy into over the coming weeks.
Celtic may have been rocked in their Champions League efforts against Dortmund, but they will recover quickly, that is the strength of the personnel at this club.
