Dortmund 7-1 Celtic (Oct 1, 2024) Match analysis

Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi scored a first-half hat-trick as last season's defeated finalists beat Celtic 7-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday, scoring five goals in the first 42 minutes.

The humiliating result moved Dortmund to the top of the 36-team Champions League standings with two wins from two games and a goal difference of nine, while Celtic dropped from third to 19th.

“A painful thing, to be sure. We were punished for every mistake we made. Before we knew it, we were down 5-1. A sobering evening,” Celtic captain Callum McGregor told TNT Sports.

Bernd Thissen/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

---

The 80,000 spectators at the Westfalenstadion started the celebrations early when Emre Can scored from the penalty spot in the seventh minute after Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had brought down Jamie Gittens and was shown a yellow card.

Celtic briefly silenced the deafening Yellow Wall two minutes later when Daizen Maeda bundled in Arne Engels' cross, but Adeyemi restored the lead with a shot deflected off Auston Trusty in the 11th.

The German winger made it 3-1 in the 29th minute when he fired the ball past the diving Schmeichel into the top corner and then won a penalty in the 39th minute, which Serhou Guirassy was able to sink before taking his three minutes later Hat-trick completed.

Guirassy scored his second of the night in the 66th minute and second-half substitute Felix Nmecha completed the defeat in the 79th minute, with Celtic having Schmeichel to thank for keeping the dismal score at seven.

The half-time defeat saw Celtic's goal difference fall to zero following their 5-1 win over debutants Slovan Bratislava in their opening game last month, and things only got worse.

Guirassy's second goal came after poor defensive play from Alistair Johnston as Celtic, who arrived in the opening game with some confidence of a good result, paid the price for sluggish passing and poor possession.

Adeyemi became the first Dortmund player to score a first-half hat-trick in Europe since 2002 and his performance sent shockwaves through the 4,000 traveling Celtic fans as the speedy hosts tore their team apart.

Both teams started the weekend's domestic league games unchanged, with Celtic top of the table in Scotland and Dortmund and winning 3-0 at Belgian Club Brugge, fifth in the Bundesliga, in their European Cup opener.

“The quick goal killed us and upset us a little. If you give good players time on the ball, they will kill you. And that’s exactly what they did,” McGregor said.