Borussia Dortmund vs Celtic

Borussia Dortmund and Celtic are set to lock horns at Signal Iduna Park in their first-ever meeting in the UEFA Champions League.

Borussia Dortmund netted three unanswered goals beyond the 70th minute to dismantle Club Brugge in their Champions League curtain raiser. However, the optimism quickly doused as Stuttgart handed new boss Nuri Sahin his first defeat in charge of ‘Die Borussen,’ trouncing last season’s Champions League finalists 5-1. Dortmund replied with a stunning comeback against Bochum at the weekend, overturning a two-goal deficit to win 4-2 on this ground. That was their fifth consecutive home victory in all competitions, and with each coming by at least a two-goal margin, it’s only natural to assume Dortmund will seek an emphatic win here. However, it’s not all rosy by any stretch of the imagination, not least because of Dortmund’s indifferent record across their last 17 European outings at Signal Iduna Park (W8, D6, L3).

That said, Celtic’s hosts come into proceedings unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League matches on home soil (W7, D4), highlighting the scale of the task awaiting Brendan Rodgers’ high-flying side this week. The Hoops enjoyed a perfect warm-up for this trip, thumping Scottish Premiership minnows St Johnstone 6-0 on the road last weekend to uphold their faultless 2024/25 start (W9). It’s also worth noting that each of those nine triumphs came by 2+ goal margins, including a 5-1 rout of Champions League debutants Slovan Bratislava in round one. However, Celtic’s red-hot form is under imminent threat unless they can defy history and win on German soil for the first time in 15 attempts (D3, L11). Achieving that feat would see the Glasgow powerhouse win three consecutive Champions League fixtures for the first time in club history.