With just hours to go until Celtic take on Borussia Dortmund in matchday two of the Champions League, the excitement is building as Brendan Rodgers looks to build on the Slovan Bratislava performance.
Celtic are heading into the game confident after an impressive start to the season both in the UEFA competition and domestically but there is no doubt that the Bundesliga club will pose a very tough challenge.
However, there has been a bit of a sideshow going on outside the buildup to the big game as the press focused on the relationship between the Celtic boss and Borussia Dortmund’s manager, Nuri Sahin, when both were at Liverpool.
As Sahin denies ever having an issue with Rodgers at Anfield, Brendan Rodgers has shared what he really thought about the former Turkish midfielder.
Brendan Rodgers remembers Nuri Sahin fondly
Sahin was signed by Rodgers for a season-long loan from Real Madrid but only made 12 appearances under the now-Celtic boss.
When asked about the Dortmund manager, Rodgers remembers Sahin’s time at Liverpool fondly despite the lack of game time he got.
Rodgers told Celtic TV, “I haven’t seen him for a long time. He was a very young player when he came to Liverpool with me and it was a challenge for him at that moment because obviously, we had a lot of really good players in front of him at that time.
“But he was a good guy, really good professional. Later on, I brought Emrie Can, who I know very well who’s the captain there and again in his own rite a fantastic player for me Liverpool.
“And he can play in a number of positions but the positions he can play he can play really, really well. So it’ll be really good to see those two guys.
“But more importantly, I’m looking forward to testing us and how we’ve been for this opening period of the season and see how we measure up against one of the elite teams.”
Celtic’s chances against Borussia Dortmund
There is no doubt tonight will be the toughest test in the Champions League for Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic.
Dortmund have a number of players who will pose a real danger to the Scottish champions but Celtic also have players who can cause Sahin’s side problems despite losing Cameron Carter-Vickers to injury.
Arne Engels’ experience of German football even at such a young age will be crucial as well as having the experience of Callum McGregor to call upon.
Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn are on fire this season and will offer a threat from the wings and Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah are both firing up front for Celtic.
Whilst the Germans will be a tough nut to crack, if Celtic can produce another performance like they did against Slovan Bratislava in the opening game of the season, anything can happen tonight.
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