'Totally different level' - Celtic hero adamant Brendan Rodgers' judgment 'clouded' over Dortmund demolition

Alan Stubbs has weighed into Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers’ tactical approach during his side’s 7-1 Champions League pasting at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last week.

The former Hoops centre-back, who won five trophies during a five-year spell at Parkhead, reckons the Northern Irishman’s judgement was clouded in the lead-up to the match in Germany after an excellent 5-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava on matchday one and Celtic’s impressive domestic form.

Stubbs believes Rodgers critics will view his tactics as “naive”, however, he can’t suppress his doubts over the risk of going toe-to-toe and being torn apart by last season’s finalists.

Speaking to BestBettingSites.com, Stubbs said: “It all depends on how you look at it. There will be certain people who will say, ‘Well done for sticking to your principles and what you want to do.' There will be others saying it’s naive. The SPFL and the Champions League are completely different ball games and when you’re coming up against a team that are recent finalists, the quality is going to be at a level that you’ve not played against.

“Celtic were completely opened up on the night and they were given a hammering by a very talented Dortmund team. I don’t know how beneficial it is for the players to take a hammering like that in terms of confidence, despite Brendan’s recent comments saying that is an experience his players will benefit from.”

Stubbs has been impressed by Celtic’s recent domestic dominance, but described Champions league football as a “completely different level” to the SPFL as he outlined the reasons why things went terribly wrong in Dortmund.

He continued: “Celtic have been fantastic in the league, regularly blowing teams away. Some of their football has been really, really good. They’ve looked on a completely different level to the other teams in Scotland and are a cut above the rest. I don’t think that any of the teams in Scotland can live with their pace, and how quickly they move the ball.

“The Champions League is a totally different level. I think Brendan may have had his judgment clouded after Celtic’s very impressive result against Slovan Bratislava at home on the opening night. Celtic were excellent that night, but there’s a difference between playing Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park and Borussia Dortmund. To go to Dortmund and still try to play that style of football against a team that is so quick on the counter, with better players - Celtic were completely undone.”