And here’s Ewan Murray’s report from Parkhead:
Summary
Celtic are bottom of Group C, then. This was their easiest game on paper, and they were woeful. In a fortnight, they will go to Germany for tonight’s reverse fixture almost certainly needing a win to nab third place and a Europa League spot. It’s a tough ask – with Hazard, Raffael and Christensen all likely to be fit again – especially with Barcelona at home, and Manchester City away to come.
Well done to Gladbach. Elvedi looks a real prospect at centre back, just 20 years of age, and the captain Stindl looked a standout player, not just because of his goal. They got their tactics spot on, dominating Celtic in the first half with possession and pressing them into mistakes in the second. The players link arms and face the 3,000 travelling fans, each of them bouncing in celebration.
Kolo Touré:
In that kind of competition, you can’t afford to make those kind of mistakes. I have to blame myself. It was a simple action, to put the ball to the side. Second goal, the same thing. Maybe I was thinking about the other action. Even though I’m 35 years old, I’m still making 16-year-old mistakes.
Fair play to Kolo for facing the cameras. But he was caught out tonight.
Thanks for reading and for your emails and tweets. See ya!
A #UCL night which had everything! Enjoy it? pic.twitter.com/wIAPbFsoX2
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 19, 2016
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Full-time: Celtic 0-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach
That is that. If Scott Brown’s looks could kill. They probably can.
FULL TIME! Our first @ChampionsLeague points on the board 🎉 It's a deserved 2-0 win for #AGermanTeam at Celtic Park. #UCL #CELBMG pic.twitter.com/TWSn30i8W6
— A German Team (@borussia_en) October 19, 2016
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90+3 min: Gladbach should add a late winner, with Herrmann lurking at the back post, but his cut back across Celtic’s six-yard box comes to nothing.
90+2 min: Celtic haven’t had a kick for about three minutes.
90 min: Three minutes added on here. Celtic Park is looking increasingly empty.
“Twelve goals conceded in three games does not qualification from the CL group stage make,” notes Simon McMahon.
89 min: Hahn, a Gladbach goalscorer, comes off for Herrmann.
87 min: Schulz comes on for Troaré for Gladbach, their first change. Three minutes to go, and Yann Sommer remains idle in Gladbach’s goal. I don’t think he has had to make a save in this second half.
85 min: This has been some performance from Gladbach. Without their best attacking players in Raffael and Hazard, and their best defender in Christenson through injury – plus the tactical exclusion of the talented Mahmoud Dahoud – they’ve bossed this match. This result means that avoiding defeat in two weeks time at home to Celtic in the reverse fixture will probably mean that they qualify for the Europa League. That’s assuming that neither can take anything off Barcelona or Manchester City.
83 min: Touré looks to be carrying an injury – he’s hobbling – but he’ll have to continue: Celtic have made all three substitutions.
81 min: Celtic pour forward, but this looks as though it will be in vain. In fact, Gladbach look more likely to score on the counter, as Hahn flashes a shot past Gordon’s near post.
2-0. Again, fully deserved. Too many Celtic players miles off it.
— Ewan Murray (@mrewanmurray) October 19, 2016
Updated
79 min: Roberts gets to the byline and dances his way past Wendt but is shut down by the covering Vestergaard, who has been a rock tonight.
GOAL! Celtic 0-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach (Hahn 77)
Another mistake from Touré. The Ivorian gives the ball away with a sloppy pass and as he tries to retrieve it, is caught out of position. Hahn rushes into the gaping hole in the middle of Celtic’s defence, composes himself and neatly toe-pokes the ball against the underside of the bar and in.
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76 min: Dembele aside, Celtic don’t have any attacking players anywhere near six foot. So not sure the tactic they are currently employing of crossing the ball towards 6ft5in Vestergaard and 6ft1in Elvedi.
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74 min: Gladbach haven’t won an away match in Europe’s elite competition since 1977. Sixteen minutes to go.
72 min: Celtic make their final change: Roberts on, Forrest off.
70 min: Griffiths on, Rogic off. Huge roar from Celtic’s faithful, but that’s a strange sub – Rogic has been useful this half.
67 min: With that change, Celtic have changed their shape, with Tierney and Lustig now acting as wingers. Scott Brown is now playing as a third centre half. Gladbach are notoriously dangerous on the counter-attack, but this is a good response to going behind from Celtic. Pressure building …
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65 min: Callum McGregor replaces Nir Bitton in Celtic’s first sub. Rogic, who has looked Celtic’s best player since half-time, flashes a deflected shot wide. Corner, from which Sviatchenko tries to force a header home, but the ball ends up on the top of the net.
Updated
63 min: “Out of nothing?” emails Mark R. “Incorrect, Mr. Butler. Out of Kolo! Were it not for Kolo Toure stumbling, fumbling, mumbling, and bumbling that simple clearance, Celtic would still be level. That one’s all on Kolo. Think Brendan Rodgers could get Kolo’s younger brother on a January transfer and convince him to play on the back line?”
Not sure that Celtic have the financial muscle or the weather to tempt Yaya north. What’s the birthday cake like up there?
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61 min: It opens up for Bitton in the middle of the pitch, and with Sinclair to the left and Dembele to the right, the Israeli goes for goal from 30 yards with his weaker foot. It doesn’t go in. Celtic park groans.
58 min: Stindl goes clean through once more, and it’s only a magnificent sliding tackle from Sviatchenko which prevents Celtic falling further behind. Expect changes from Rodgers soon.
GOAL! Celtic 0-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach (Stindl 57)
Out of nothing, the visitors are ahead. This is a huge goal in the context of Group C, and it all stems from a mistake from Kolo Touré, who tries to see the ball out for a goal kick. Instead Hahn got round the Celtic defender, tackled the ball back to Gladbach’s captain Stindl and he whacked a ball hard and low, through Gordon’s legs and into the net. Perhaps Gordon could have done better, but it came at him quickly and from about eight yards out.
A GERMAN TEAM IS WINNING @borussia_en
— Kirsten Schlewitz (@kdschlewitz) October 19, 2016
Updated
55 min: Not an awful lot of quality in the middle of the pitch from Celtic. It’s mainly kick and rush. Their biggest threat is perhaps winning the ball high up the pitch and hoping Sinclair/Dembele do the rest. Bitton has been particularly poor with possession.
Nir Bitton having one of those nights.
— Ewan Murray (@mrewanmurray) October 19, 2016
53 min: Strobl finds a pocket of space on the edge of Celtic’s area and tries to open his body up to curl it in the far corner, but guides his shot wide.
51 min: Gladbach have switched to a back three, and I’m not sure why. They were utterly dominant in the first half with a back four, and Celtic are now getting some joy down the flanks. Dembele slips in Sinclair, who twists and turns inside Gladbach’s area, but in the end can’t find the right cutback to Rogic.
Updated
49 min: Lustig gets forward well and swings a cross in for Sinclair, who meets it awkwardly on the penalty spot, with the ball glancing wide. A little bit behind the former Manchester City man. A better start from Celtic.
47 min: Gladbach fans have let off a flare in the away end. It is, as the kids say, lit.
Pyro on display in the away end at Celtic Park... pic.twitter.com/6xJoGnkO8F
— Gordon Duncan (@gordonduncan7) October 19, 2016
46 min: Apparently Gladbach’s manager André Schubert has got a tactics board in his living room. I’m not sure whether he’s married or not.
Peeeeeep! We’re underway again.
Leigh Griffiths has been doing some eye-catching kick-ups on the pitch at half-time. He didn’t let the ball bounce once! And they say the standard of football in Scotland isn’t all that. Pah!
Half-time viewing
Whilst you wait for the second half, have a watch of our documentary on the Kurdistan football team.
Half-time: Celtic 0-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Celtic should be two or three down. Big team talk from Brendan coming up.
Updated
43 min: The first real moment of quality from Celtic, and Sinclair should have scored! Rogic, another Celtic player who has been utterly anonymous in this first half, gets the ball on the half turn and slips the ball inside Gladbach’s right back Korb. Sinclair is one-on-one with Sommer, but with the ball going ever wider, he takes the ball early and horribly skews the ball over the bar. Awful miss!
41 min: Rogic gets extremely lucky to earn his side a free-kick. Vestergaard, the tall Danish centre-back is penalised. If Celtic had lost it there, they were two against four!
Updated
39 min: Forrest and Sinclair have bairly had a kick going forward, and aren’t doing much of a job to protect their full-backs. Would not be surprised to see a change of formation or some substitutions at the break. Dembele is far too isolated.
36 min: After a nifty one-two involving Stindl and Strobl, Toure makes a last-ditch challenge to get Celtic out of jail once more. Strobl surely would have scored if the Ivorian had got that wrong. They just need to get to half-time and regroup. Nine minutes and counting.
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34 min: Tierney flies into Traore, and is probably a bit unlucky to have his name taken by referee Tasos Sidiropoulos, who caused controversy two years ago by not sending off a CSKA Moscow player against Manchester City. He booked the wrong player.
32 min: Only one team that look like scoring at the moment, but Celtic can be grateful that Gladbach’s deliveries from corners, of which they’ve had three, has been poor so far.
30 min: Celtic are living dangerously, and get caught three on three at the back. A loose pass from Stindl sends Hahn a little too wide, and the striker’s shot is tipped over the bar by Gordon.
26 min: Another big save from Gordon! It’s all happening down Gladbach’s right: This time Hofmann is the man to get clear, albeit from a narrow angle. Gordon beats away the shot, but Celtic are lucky that the ball doesn’t fall to a man in black. Instead, Bitton hooks the ball away. Sinclair isn’t giving Tierney any protection defensively.
Updated
24 min: Brown is caught napping in midfield, and tries to win the ball back with a desperate challenge on Strobl. He gets the ball, but that’s a dangerous tackle. Lucky to escape a booking there.
22 min: There’s been a goal at the Camp Nou. Follow that here, if you like.
19 min: Gladbach captain Stindl is finding plenty of space in between the lines between Celtic’s midfield and defence. He took over the armband from Granit Xhaka in the summer.
17 min: Great save from Gordon! A world class stop. Gladbach hit Celtic on the counter, and Wendt, forward from left back, cuts the ball back to Traoré, who fizzes a fierce low shot towards the bottom corner. Going to other way, Gordon somehow gets down to it, and is first to the rebound. Gladbach manager André Schubert was already celebrating on the sidelines, before Gordon stuck out his left palm.
14 min: Buoyed by that tackle, Bitton tries his luck from the resulting free-kick. It’s a poor one, bouncing wide, but Sommer still feels the need to tip it further wide. Needless. Forrest curls a corner in, and after Lustig wins a back post header, Gladbach clear. Not the best start from Sommer.
13 min: Deep in his own half, Kramer is caught in possession by Bitton, and rather than allow Celtic’s No6 to advance, he deliberately handles the ball on the floor. Yellow card for the World Cup winner. The Brendanpressing is back!
Updated
11 min: Celtic finally getting a grip on possession. They’re not doing much with it other than hopeful balls into the channels for Sinclair and Dembele to chase, but at least it’s a start.
9 min: Kramer fouls Dembele on the edge of Celtic’s penalty box, and after five minutes of concentrated pressure, Celtic Park takes a breath. It’s been a frenetic start.
6 min: It looks like Gladbach are playing with a back four. That’s unusual, usually they play with a 3-4-3 formation. Perhaps that has thrown Rodgers and co, the visitors look much the stronger here.
4 min: It’s been a nightmare start for Celtic at the back. Hahn goes clean through, and it is only a magnificent recovering slide tackle from Kolo Toure that prevents the German from getting Gladbach’s first shot on goal. He took an age to get his shot off. Next Traore gallops into acres of space on the right – just where is Tierney?! – and his cross is cut out by Lustig, who made a strong challenge on Hahn inside the box. He had to get that right.
Updated
2 min: This should be an open game, though. Both teams need to win this game. Gladbach mount their first attack and sweep forward in numbers, and when Gordon collects the ball, Celtic are able to counter attack. Sinclair breaks the offside trap and squares a low cross but Sommer is there to distinguish any threat.
1 min: Quiet start, but it’s very loud inside Celtic park. And judging by this email from Owen Grain, in other parts of Glasgow, too.
“Owen the taxi driver here. I heard there are about 7000 German fans in town, about half of whom have a ticket fir the game....”
Updated
Peeeeeep! And we’re off.
Celtic fans singing a local tune. Something about walking.
Scott Brown leads Celtic out, shimmering in their green and white hoops. Gladbach are in their changed black strip, with green trim.
Now for the Champions League theme tune. Now that’s more like it.
Celtic fans, where do the away team’s fans drink in Glasgow pre-match? Those Gladbach fans look like they are on one!
Email answers, predictions, or any thoughts on the match to michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet me @michaelbutler18.
Did somebody say atmosphere? Over 3,000 of those lot in town tonight. It’s a sell out.
Borussia Monchengladbach fans pic.twitter.com/zzrPas8KTJ
— StayRudeStayRebel (@Debby_Mc) October 19, 2016
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Champions League nights are special at Celtic Park under the lights. André Hahn, who leads the line for Mönchengladbach tonight had this to say pre-match.
“They say Celtic Park has the best atmosphere of any British stadium. As players we have been excited to play there since the draw.”
Brendan Rodgers has also been wobbling his chin.
“I always feel it’s the players on the field who spark off the supporters. I think the intensity and passion here is incredible. It does take your breath away, the game and the atmosphere that’s created.”
More here:
Chris Sutton thinks a win here tonight for Celtic would guarantee third spot in the group and qualification to Europa League football. He’s part of BT Sport’s commentary team tonight. Here’s Barney Ronay’s 2p on the former Celtic striker.
Kolo Touré replaces Jozo Simunovic, who played centre back in Celtic’s 2-0 win over Motherwell at the weekend. There’s no Gamboa at right back, as he’s busy running errands. It’s the same side that drew with Manchester City.
Little Julian is here 🍀 I wish the Bhoys the best of luck for tonight👊🏻There is a new Celtic fan in town !!#hailhail Ya tenemos a Julián 👼🏼 pic.twitter.com/eFUw6Ia0Wv
— Cristian Gamboa (@Cris_GamboaCR) October 19, 2016
Mahmoud Dahoud, who attracted interest from Liverpool in the summer and was also subject of a £34.2m bid from PSG, is on the bench for the visitors.
Updated
The teams!
Celtic: Gordon; Lustig, Toure, Sviatchenko, Tierney; Brown, Bitton, Rogic, Forrest, Sinclair; Dembele
Subs: De Vries, Izaguirre, Simunovic, Griffiths, Armstrong, Roberts, McGregor.
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer, Korb, Vestergaard, Elvedi, Wendt, Traore, Kramer, Strobl, Hofmann, Stindl, Hahn.
Subs: Sippel, Herrmann, Dahoud, Nico Schulz, Sow, Jantschke, Rutten.
Referee: Tasos Sidiropoulos (Greece)
Updated
Preamble
Borussia Mönchengladbach are achingly cool. A rich history of success, €175 season ticket prices and a 3-4-3 formation has been attracting footy hipsters to North Rhine-Westphalia for years. Have a walk round Glasgow tonight, and you might find a Straight Outta Gladbach sticker on the bus. Their badge is mega, they’ve got the lesser-spotted Hazard and their social media team seem to have a sense of humour, too.
👍#fohlenelf #UCL #CELBMG pic.twitter.com/W1b6cwkKzJ
— A German Team (@borussia_en) October 19, 2016
But cool doesn’t make you good, and this season in the Champions League, Gladbach are played two, lost two. In a group with Barcelona and Manchester City, this match against Celtic represents their best chance of grabbing third spot to qualify for the Europa League.
The same, of course, applies to Celtic. But who knows which version of the Bhoys will turn up tonight? Will it be the one that rolled over and died seven times against Barcelona, or the ones who thrilled and sparkled in arguably the game of the season so far, their 3-3 draw against Manchester City?
Those on the green side of Glasgow can be hopeful of victory, not least because Gladbach travel to Scotland without an away victory since August and without some of their best players. Raffael [leg], Thorgan Hazard [knee], Andreas Christensen [muscle] and Fabian Johnson [illness] are all sidelined, as are longer-term casualties Josip Drmic and Alvaro Dominguez.
Raffael is the man that normally makes Gladbach tick, his sweet left foot dictating the play and often finishing the moves from the No10 position. Thorgan Hazard normally provides quality from wide areas, and his form prior to his injury earned a call up to the Belgium squad, whilst Andreas Christensen, on a two-year loan from Chelsea has been linked with a £20m move to Barcelona, such is the progress that he’s made in Germany. They will all be huge losses to manager Andre Schubert.
Kick-off: 7.45pm in Glasgow.
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