The thing the Celtic fans love most about the Champions League is that it gives their team to pit their wits against the elite of European football.
The Scottish Premiership will always be the bread and butter for Celtic but the Champions League offers a new type of challenge both on and off the pitch for the current Scottish champions.
On the pitch, Brendan Rodgers seems to have improved Celtic’s performance after the 5-1 hammering of Slovan Bratislava.
But tonight, in Germany, the Celtic boss faces tougher opposition as he looks to size up to last season’s runners-up in the Westenfallonstadion.
And when asked if he thought Celtic could pull off a result in Dortmund, Alan Pardew, offered a reasonable and realistic opinion as he labelled the job Brendan Rodgers is doing at Celtic Park as ‘unbelievable’.
Pardew’s realistic opinion on Celtic beating Dortmund
The ex-Newcastle boss was very complimentary of Celtic as delivered his verdict on whether or not the Glasgow club could beat Dortmund tonight.
But Pardew also delivered a healthy dose of realism in terms of the financial gulf between Celtic and the rest of the top European clubs.
Pardew said on talkSPORT, “You’ve got to remember Brendan Rodgers doing an unbelievable job up there.
“The step up in terms of financial fair play, let’s put it like that, financial fair play between some of these clubs, the Premier League, in particular, to Celtic, is massive.
“They’re competing, really, in the transfer market against Championship sides. So let’s put that in perspective.
“So the team he has assembled there is outstanding and some of is down to Ange [Postecoglou] actually, who left a great set of players.
“So there’s a lot going in their favour, but I do think that that will be a step too far tonight. I don’t expect them to win there.”
Why Celtic still won’t get close to Europe’s elite
And when Pardew was informed about Celtic’s financial gap compared to Rangers, the former West Ham boss said that the cash being generated in this season’s competition is only going to benefit the bigger teams in the competition still.
Pardew continued, “That’s beginning to become a problem. And you know, when you look at the European format this year for this Champions League, really it is the UEFA League, the league that they always wanted.
“They’ve kind of made it a Super League in a different name, a different guise. That’s what they’ve done.
“And actually, what they’ve done is give all the bigger clubs more money. That’s how it’s worked out, or it’s going to work out, trust me.
“So they’ll get more money, the gap will get bigger and teams like Leicester to win the Champions League, for example, who won the league have got literally next to no chance. So it’s all geared to one way.”
Celtic are in an extremely healthy financial position and have been for a number of years now. But despite that, the Parkhead club still cannot compete with the financial muscle of not only Europe’s top clubs but also the second tier of English football.
However, what Rodgers has done with the financial resources available to him this season seems to be working as his work in the transfer market has been paying off, so far.
Tonight, Dortmund will really test Celtic’s strength on the pitch and hopefully, the likes of Arne Engels, Adm Idah, Kasper Schmeichel and Auston Trusty can step up to the challenge and kick the team on.
Because whilst the fans know that the club’s hands are tied behind their backs financially, they still want to see a competitive Celtic perform and progress in UEFA’s flagship tournament.
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