Arsenal legend Martin Keown has warned Celtic against “pretending” they can match the elite clubs in the Champions League after they were demolished by Dortmund.
It was a horror night for the Scottish Premiership champions in Europe’s elite competition as the Bundesliga heavyweights smashed seven goals past Kasper Schmeichel – and it could have been more had Nuri Sahin’s side been more ruthless in front of the Westfalenstadion cauldron. Celtic crumbled in front of the Yellow Wall to leave Brendan Rodgers fronting up to another massive defeat in Europe – having previously overseen drubbings at the hands of Barcelona, PSG and Atletico Madrid.
And Keown was far from impressed with the Hoops’ collapse in Germany – as he dished out the blame to Rodgers, the Celtic players and the clubs they face on a weekly basis domestically. Speaking to the TNT Sports’ Goals Show, Keown said: “You can’t keep playing the same way. They didn’t adjust. In their own domestic league they are just too good for everyone else and they are not used to being out of possession.
“It’s about learning from this but the manager is just as culpable as the players. You don’t win on your own and take all the credit for the wins in the domestic league and everyone is saying ‘Brendan is a fantastic manager’ – it’s a joint effort. They are equally to blame here. The manager needs to sort this out with the players.
‘You can’t go toe-to-toe with some of these European greats. They played in final of the Champions League last year. You have got to adjust. You can’t pretend there is not a difference in quality and that’s what happened tonight.”
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