Brendan Rodgers will not 'sit in and camp' against big teams despite Celtic's Champions League thrashing by Dortmund

Celtic were on the receiving end of a 7-1 thumping by Borussia Dortmund, and the humbling result raised questions over whether Brendan Rodgers will adapt his playing style in the future. "Are we going to sit in and camp, and wait and wait? No, we won’t do that," Rodgers told TNT Sports after a humbling evening in Germany. Former Bhoys boss Neil Lennon urged Celtic to "find another way of playing".

Brendan Rodgers said Celtic will continue to try and “show our ability with the ball” against illustrious European opponents despite another humbling night in the UEFA Champions League against Borussia Dortmund.

The Scottish champions were thrashed 7-1 at Signal Iduna Park, conceding five before half-time in a catastrophic start.

It was not the first time Celtic have been guilty of a capitulation in European football’s top competition, as they also suffered big losses against the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in recent years.

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Rodgers was asked in an interview with TNT Sports after the game if he intends to adapt his attack-minded playing style against the European elite going forward.

“We always have to adapt, but sometimes the quality just breaks through that,” Rodgers said.

“Are we going to sit in and camp, and wait and wait? No, we won’t do that.

“We play in a way that allows us to dominate domestically. We know it’s going to be difficult at times for us to do that, but we still have to show our ability with the ball.

“Tonight, we weren’t anywhere near that level, we gave it away too easily. Then we got punished from that.”

Dortmund aren’t a sensational team but at this level you get punished - Lennon on Celtic woes

Video credit: TNT Sports

A frantic opening saw Daizen Maeda quickly equalise after an Emre Can penalty, only for Karim Adeyemi to put Dortmund back in front just two minutes later.

It proved to be the first of three goals the striker would score in a brilliant first half, and the punishment kept coming as Serhou Guirassy netted a penalty before the break.

Guirassy notched his brace in the second half, before Felix Nmecha completed the rout with a superb strike that topped off a clinical performance from the hosts.

“I don’t think I’ve been involved in a game where virtually every mistake we made got punished,” Rodgers said.

“That’s the level. That’s the highest level of modern football. We got punished for that.

“The early goals seemed to spook us a little bit and we didn’t play with the same confidence. They were playing at a high level.

“Second half, the guys showed great spirit, we had more possession of the ball and took more risks to create, but ultimately we were beaten by a much better team.”  

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On what went wrong with his approach to the game, Rodgers said: “We will assess it afterwards. We wanted to press the game, but we wanted to be in balance and be tight and compact.

“There were too many times we ran out of position at the wrong time and weren’t in a compact shape, and top players punish you. That’s something we will look at for the coming games.”

Lennon: Celtic were exposed

Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon was at Signal Iduna Park commentating on the match for TNT Sports.

He called on Rodgers to find a different way to play against the biggest sides, with six league phase matches yet to come including clashes with Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Aston Villa.

“They let the game get away from them. They were far too passive. They didn’t do the dirty bits of the game well enough, they weren’t physical enough. Too nice,” Lennon said.

“They didn’t turn Dortmund at all and kept playing the same way. The result was the same: goal against, goal against, goal against.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

“Celtic played right into their hands constantly. This is the Champions League, it’s the highest level of football and it’s ruthless at times.

“Celtic were exposed tonight. There is still lots of mileage in this group for them to go, but they have to analyse and say: ‘We can’t do this away from home against top teams. We have to find another way of playing at times.’ It’s alright playing good football, but play it in the right areas.”

McGregor - Clinical Dortmund put us 'in a spin'

Celtic captain Callum McGregor was left to rue the brutally clinical finishing of Dortmund’s attackers, who produced some sensational finishes to pounce on Bhoys mistakes.

“It’s a sore one. Every mistake we made, we were punished. It doesn’t happen that often. Before we knew it, we were 5-1 down. It’s a sobering night,” McGregor said.

“The second goal rattled us, the stadium gets going, and before you know it, you’re in a spin. That’s something we have to learn from.

“Normally we’re good at that type of thing where we execute the game plan the way we should. But we have to hold our hands up.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

“We didn’t do enough tonight. We came up against a good side but we have to stick together. We’ve had a good start to the season, we’ve still got three points. If we’re realistic, then we are where we thought we would be after two games.”

The result took the wind out of Celtic’s sails after their impressive 5-1 win against Slovan Bratislava in the opening round in Glasgow.

Rodgers’ side travel to Europa League champions Atalanta next on October 23, before facing Leipzig, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, Young Boys and Aston Villa.

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