Borussia Dortmund suffer horror result nine days out from Celtic Champions League visit

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Celtic’s upcoming Champions League opponents Borussia Dortmund were thrashed 5-1 by Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Goals from Deniz Undav, Ermedin Demirovic and Enzo Millot had Stuttgart up by three after an hour before Dortmund pulled one back through Serhou Guirassy.

However, El Bilal Toure added another for the home side before Undav scored his second late on to complete the rout.

Stuttgart had also been involved in Champions League action midweek, away to Real Madrid, but bounced back from that defeat in Spain in the best possible way.

Dortmund still hold significant danger for Celtic

Last year’s finalists present one of the most difficult challenges to Celtic in this year’s group stage. The trip to Germany a week on Tuesday is daunting.

They’re embarking on a new era this season under Nuri Sahin after the resignation of Edin Terzic over the summer.

After four matches they sit eighth in the Bundesliga table. This result against Stuttgart will raise serious questions for their new manager given it was his team’s first real domestic test of the campaign.

No doubt it’ll be an interesting watch for Celtic analysts, too. They’ll be studying the fixture closely for any potential weaknesses to exploit.

Celtic’s route to Champions League knockouts

The match in Dortmund is a bit of a free hit for Celtic. They’ll be underdogs and not really expected to pick up a result – especially after they started the tournament confidently with a 3-0 result against Club Brugge.

In terms of Celtic progression to the knockouts, a defeat wouldn’t necessarily have a big impact.

Brendan Rodgers’ side need six points from their remaining seven matches to get them to the nine-point mark, which gives the Bhoys a 69% probability for a top-24 spot. A total of ten points gives a team a 99% chance of making it through.

If Celtic play to the best of their ability and catch Dortmund on an off-night, like they’ve just had against Stuttgart, then a good result is achievable – especially since the pressure is all on the Germans’ shoulders.

Rodgers will undoubtedly have his players carrying that kind of belief into the fixture. It’ll be another exciting night for Celtic fans full of hope about the European challenge ahead.