Dortmund daunting but defensive doubts offer Celtic hope

Champions League: Borussia Dortmund v Celtic

Date: Tuesday, 1 Sept Venue: Signal Iduna Park Kick-off: 20:00 BST

Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio Scotland, text updates on BBC Sport website & app

Just four months ago, London was hit by a swarm of yellow and black as Borussia Dortmund prepared to take part in their third Champions League final.

More than 60,000 made the trip for the match at Wembley but only 25,000 had tickets as Hyde Park was opened up to cater for the unlucky ones.

It was a memorable run for Germany’s "Die Schwarzgelben" as they swept aside PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint Germain en route, ultimately falling short against Real Madrid, losing 2-0.

They had their chances though and will look back and wonder what might have been.

It had been a relatively mundane league season, with a fifth-place finish - a distant 27 points behind the unbeaten champions Bayer Leverkusen and 10 off runners-up Stuttgart - and despite their appearance in European football’s grandest affair, coach Edin Terzic left his position just days later.

Former Dortmund and Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin stepped up from his assistant's role and the 36-year-old a big job on his hands.

Sahin has credit in the bank. He was part of the side that won the Bundesliga title in 2011 and that reached the Champions League final two years later under Jurgen Klopp.

Niklas Fullkrug, Marco Reus and Mats Hummels have departed and performances have been up and down.

A 5-1 pounding at Stuttgart hasn't helped though they followed that with a 4-2 home win over Bochum as they warmed up to face Celtic on Tuesday, battling back from 2-0 down to save face.

Nine goals leaked in their last four games points to a vulnerability that was addressed by Sahin after Friday’s win.

"We defended very, very badly," he said. "We have to develop in this area and defending in depth is always a huge topic. I hope that we improve as quickly as possible because there's no other way."

That should offer Brendan Rodgers and his free-scoring players some optimism as Celtic look for a first win on German soil at the 15th attempt.

Sahin has his side sitting fifth again after just five matches and, despite recent wobbles, they will be big favourites against Celtic.

Firstly, they are at home and they don't lose at the mighty Signal Iduna Park very often. The 25,000-strong "yellow wall" of fans in the south stand is one of the most iconic sights - and sounds - in Europe.

There have been just two defeats in their last 22 home Champions League matches, while they cantered to a 3-0 win on match-day one in Belgium against Club Bruges.

Captain Emre Can leads by example. He was a late call-up to Germany's Euro 2024 squad and celebrated by scoring their fifth in the 5-1 rout of Scotland.

New signing Serhou Guirassy is one of the most in-form strikers in the world right now and warmed up for the Scottish champions' visit with a brace against Bochum. He has four goals in his four appearances since his switch from Stuttgart.

The Guinea international’s 30 goals last season helped his old club secure their highest Bundesliga finish since winning the title in 2007.

Following Jaden Sancho and Jude Bellingham’s Dortmund breakthroughs, fellow Englishman Jamie Gittens is beating the same path and further italicized his talent by scoring twice in Bruges.

Can's international team-mates Waldemar Anton, Nico Schlotterbeck, Maximilian Beier and Pascal Gross, who was signed after seven years at Brighton, form a home-based spine, while exciting young Belgian Julien Duranville has recovered from an injury-hit campaign and, alongside Celtic’s Arne Engels, made his senior international debut in the Nations League last month.

These two have met only twice in old Uefa Cup ties.

The first of those in 1987 featured a quick-fire return to Celtic Park for the great Murdo MacLeod, who enjoyed his time in Germany almost as much as they enjoyed having him there.

A decade later, a successful future Celtic captain Paul Lambert hoisted the European Cup above his head in Dortmund colours as they beat a fabulous Juventus side in Munich to lift the trophy for the only time in the club's history.

Dortmund and Celtic are intrinsically linked by those two as the clubs prepare to do battle in the biggest tournament of them all, with Rodgers and his players eyeing up history.