It’s going to be a tough day for Celtic fans as they digest another disappointing Champions League away defeat this morning.
There had been an overwhelming sense of optimism heading into the fixture against Borussia Dortmund and hope that maybe Celtic could get a positive result.
Not necessarily a win, but in the hope of taking a point after the high of the 5-1 Slovan Bratislava victory at Celtic Park.
However, it wasn’t meant to be and the strength and power of Borussia Dortmund was too much for Celtic as the Bundesliga giants dealt a 7-1 humbling to the Scottish champions.
However, as the anger over the defeat is no doubt still felt, Paul Lambert has a message for the Celtic fans as he put the defeat in Germany ‘into perspective’ on talkSPORT this morning.
Celtic defeat ‘put into perspective’ by Lambert
Speaking to Alan Brazil and Ray Parlour, former Celtic hero, Lambert, put the defeat into context as he laid out some home truths about Scottish football.
Lambert told talkSPORT, “I never said it yesterday, but that’s exactly what can happen in that stadium. You’ve got to be a big, big player there to handle that atmosphere. If you don’t handle that, that’s exactly what can happen.
“And I think there’s going to be criticism coming Celtic’s way, but I think you’ve got to put it into perspective.
“Celtic aren’t playing a St Johnstone, playing a Hibs, playing a Hearts. You’re playing a team, albeit five of those eleven played in the Champions League final last year.
“So you’ve got to look at it in comparison with rather than analyse it as a fan. I think you’ve got to look at it and say, ‘Well, how did that happen?’
“The standard of football in Scotland is nowhere near the same and that is a major problem.”
Celtic can’t compete with Borussia Dortmund financially
Lambert, who is a legend at Celtic and Dortmund, also cited the financial disparity between the Glasgow giants and the Bundesliga club despite the worldwide appeal of the Parkhead club.
Lambert continued, “I think there’s an insular perception of Scottish football that we’ve got some really good teams, we haven’t. The level is not there anymore.
“When I played in the Seville game the year Martin O’Neill had was a phenomenal era.
“Celtic can’t compete with Borussia Dortmund financially. Rangers are an absolute mess at the minute so they can’t compete.
“But you’re talking clubs that are global, worldwide football clubs that can fill any stadium in the world if you give them the ticket base but there’s no way that Scottish football can compete with teams like that, Borussia Dortmund, it’s impossible for them to do it because of the revenue.”
While the points that Lambert makes cannot be argued with, what can be done is that Brendan Rodgers needs to set up Celtic in a way where the best teams in Europe find it hard to break them down.
Neil Lennon and Gordon Strachan found a way to do it in their time at the club and managed to pick up superb results against the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona.
Last night was a tough one to take and, no doubt, normal service will be resumed on Sunday against Ross County but Atalanta beckon in the next Champions League fixture and Celtic can ill-afford a repeat of what happened in the Westenfallonstadion last night.
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