Borussia Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin has been previewing his side’s clash with Celtic tomorrow as Brendan Rodgers takes the Hoops to German shores on Champions League matchday two.
The Bhoys thumped Slovan Bratislava on their opening night of the competition, claiming a whopping victory on their first venture into the new format that has set the scene for potential knockout progression.
Despite the task of following that up with three points at Signal Iduna Park, Sahin has delivered a strong verdict on Celtic, claiming they shouldn’t be labelled ‘underdogs’ for the tie amid a solid start to the season.
Adding another layer of intrigue, the former Turkey international and Rodgers both worked together at Liverpool between 2012 and 2013 before the former’s comments in an interview with AS led to the termination of his loan stint at Anfield.
Over ten years have passed since the issue dominated headlines. However, the 36-year-old has detailed how he really feels about the Celtic manager now.
Nuri Sahin’s feelings towards Brendan Rodgers
Speaking ahead of Dortmund locking horns with Celtic, Sahin has revealed there is no bad blood between himself and Rodgers despite suggestions that there may have been more to their previous exchanges.
He stated [Scotsman]: “Before the transfer we had a lot of conversations. I think he’s originally from Northern Ireland but he has a Spanish vibe – he loves possession in football.
“I liked his training sessions, they were very interesting, I was already taking notes for my own coaching career. We meet again 10 years on and I’m looking forward to the duel.”
When asked if it had difficult under the Irishman, Sahin said: “Absolutely not. I don’t know what I said back in the day when I was young but the only thing was I played in a different position than I usually played.
“The problem for me was Steven Gerrard played in my position. So I had to adjust with my position, and this was the only thing.
“Everything else, I really enjoyed my time at Liverpool and also under Brendan. I enjoyed every training session with him, his ideas were very possession-oriented, playing in the opposition half.
“I can only say good things about him and my time there. When you get a call from Dortmund, as a Dortmund boy, you go back home. That’s the only reason.”
How Celtic will approach exciting Borussia Dortmund clash
There is a lot of excitement in the air with Celtic headed to Germany, but how will the Hoops look to approach facing their toughest test of the season?
Some teams would sit back and hope to avoid an onslaught, but Rodgers intends to ‘really hurt’ Dortmund on Tuesday night where he can. He has cited his side’s capacity to soak up pressure and capitalise due to their offensive quality.
He said on the Bhoys’ approach: “I think we can create chances, you know, and we can score goals. And that’ll be our idea going into the game.
“The physicality and the running power that we have. You know you’re going to be in moments of stress when you’re away, but you can see our mentality and how we defend, how compact we are and how tight we are. Then when you break out of that, you’ve got speed in your front line that can really, really hurt (Dortmund).
Pulling a number on last year’s Champions League finalists is an incredibly difficult task; most Celtic supporters will be aware of that. Regardless, there is little fun in not daring to dream, and it appears Rodgers is relishing the opportunity to take on Sahin under the lights.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
