“It Got Ugly Pretty Quick” – Johnston on Celtic’s Dortmund Reality Check

Celtic’s Champions League campaign took a harsh turn during their encounter with Borussia Dortmund, resulting in a 7-1 defeat that left a significant mark on the team.

Alistair Johnston reflected on the challenging match, acknowledging the swift and harsh reality check the team faced against such a formidable opponent.

Johnston, who has had a productive season with four goals and five assists in 17 Games, emphasised the rapid escalation of the Game’s intensity and the punishing nature of top-tier European Football.

“It got ugly pretty quick,” Johnston said to Times Colonist. “And that just reminded us that we’re playing these top teams (and) if you’re not fully tuned in to how you’re going to defend, you can get punished pretty quickly.

“But I think we learned from that.”

The loss was an embarrassment and could’ve been a huge setback for Celtic, but they didn’t allow that.

After picking up an opening win against Bratislava, they had three points on the board after their Dortmund loss. Next up was a trip to Bergamo to play Atalanta, which was undoubtedly a tough match, but the Hoops’ defence held strong and secured a 0-0 draw.

There was another difficult match in store for the Bhoys against RB Leipzig, but after falling behind early on, a Kuhn brace and a Hatate winner sealed another three points for Celtic.

As we head into the next Champions League match, a home one against Club Brugge in just over two weeks’ time, Celtic sit on 7 points. The humbling in Dortmund clearly didn’t derail Rodgers’ side.