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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

The strengths & weaknesses Celtic should expect from Borussia Dortmund in UCL

If there's anyone well positioned to know about German football and be able to relate it to the Scottish game, iconic football broadcaster Derek Rae certainly falls into that category. 

And he believes that Celtic have a decent chance of beating Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park this evening (Tuesday 1, October).

Celtic thrashed Slovan Bratislava 5-1 on matchday one of the newly-formed UEFA Champions League league phase and are currently top of the Scottish Premiership having won their first six games without even conceding a goal. 

Manager Brendan Rodgers was well-backed by the Hoops board in the summer transfer window, with the likes of Arne Engels arriving for a club-record fee, while the permanent return of Adam Idah has already proved a shrewd acquisition. 

Speaking as a guest on Premier Sports' Scottish Football Social Club ahead of Celtic's latest European test in Germany, Rae said: "I think Celtic have a chance in this one. Although, I don't think Celtic fans can think 'oh this is going to be easy', not that you would against a team which got to the Champions League final last season."


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Going on to detail Dortmund's strengths and weaknesses, the Aberdonian-born commentator continued: "I would use the word schizophrenic to describe Dortmund, and in fact in the newspaper's today the main headline was 'Balancing Act'. Dortmund are trying to perform this balancing act.

"Attacking wise they can be very good, if you watched their game against Bochum on Friday, they came back from 2-0 down, it could've been 3-0 down and probably should've been. But they found a way to win, and they can do that. 

"So, that's the warning for Celtic. Even though there's a vulnerability about them and there's not stability at the back. 

"The thing I would say about Dortmund is I'm yet to see an identity. Nuri Sahin is the coach now, he was the assistant brought in in January to help Edin Terzic the previous coach who's no longer there. 

"Nuri Sahin might be a well-respected player but I don't really see his thumb print on the team. It's still not all-that convincing. What I would say is there is individual quality. Watch out for Karim Adeyemi, he's left-footed, very fast, usually plays on the right, and Serhou Guirassy, who's just joined in the summer from Stuttgart. He has 28 goals in 28 matches last season and he's the complete striker. He's somebody who can cause Celtic bother. 

"There are areas to be worried about but I think there are areas that Celtic can exploit." 

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