Liverpool tensions add to Celtic’s Dortmund challenge in Champions League



It’s Dortmund v Celtic tonight at the Westfalenstadion in the Champions League and there’s an added rather fascinating Liverpool sideshow worth keeping an eye on.

Last season’s beaten Champions League Finalists are now managed by Nuri Sahin, who as a young player at Liverpool was managed by the current Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

Both spoke positively enough about each other in their pre-match media conferences, with Rodgers explaining why Sahin was often played out of position while Rodgers was picking the team at Liverpool.

 UEFA Champions League Press Conference, Celtic 30 09 2024 Brendan Rodgers Celtic, Head Coach UEFA Champions League Press Conference, Celtic 30 09 2024. Photo BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/Buriakov

Brendan Rodgers was asked about knowing Nuri from his spell at Liverpool and how he reflects on that, plus how have you assessed his career since their time together at Anfield.

“Yeah, he was a good guy, Nuri. He probably didn’t play for me as much as he would have liked,” Rodgers admitted.

30 09 2024, Season 2024 2025, UEFA Champions League, UCL, Press conference, Borussia Dortmund Celtic Glasgow, Press conference with coach Nuri Sahin Borussia Dortmund , Dortmund Signal Iduna Park NRW Germany. Photo  Dennis Ewert/RHR-FOTO RHR-FOTO/DE

“I think when he came in he was a young player, coming in on loan from Real Madrid. Unfortunately at that time, I’d moved Steven Gerrard from a number 10 position into a deeper role. I’d also had Jordan Henderson who became, those two guys, some of the greatest captains in the history of Liverpool and that’s who he was competing against.

“I tried to put him into the team and play in some positions that probably didn’t quite suit him. I might play as number 10 when he was a deeper player but I had other players in those positions that were doing really well for me.

“But across his time, he was a good guy. He loved his football, trained very well, and was super professional and of course, he left Liverpool and went back to Dortmund and followed his career from there. So it’s great to see him. It’ll be really good to see him tomorrow evening when he’s making his first steps as a manager.

“He’ll now know the challenges of when you do manage and all the various things that come up with being a manager. So I’m looking forward to seeing him. I’m looking forward to seeing Emre Can. Emre was a player that was absolutely brilliant for me at Liverpool.

“I travelled out here to Germany to come back and convince him to come to Liverpool as a young player. He came in and he was absolutely fantastic. Wherever I asked him to play, he played with real maturity and quality. He’s the captain here and he’s a very, very good player also.”

There’s more on Brendan’s media conference on The Celtic Star’s full and extensive coverage.

Celtic’s away record in the Champions League in recent times hardly provides grounds for much optimism this evening but, and there is a but, there’s something different about this Celtic side. Watch and see for yourselves this evening. Kick-off is at 8pm and the YNWA will be incredible with a large Celtic support in attendance planning to out-sing Dortmund’s Yellow Wall.

Watch these Celtic goals from the weekend…