Dortmund showed enough vulnerability that Celtic can break “The Yellow Wall.”

The other night, I sat and watched Dortmund take on Bochum at home, and I was impressed by their determination to fight back from 2-0 down to win the game. Some of their players showed real quality, but as the commentator noted at the end, a better side than Bochum wouldn’t have allowed it to end 4-2 in Dortmund’s favour.

I try not to draw sweeping conclusions from a single match, but this isn’t Dortmund’s first dodgy performance of the season. Last weekend, they were soundly thrashed by Stuttgart. They’re going through a shaky spell, and Bochum managed to open them up with some impressive attacking play.

Without a doubt, Dortmund have fantastic players in their ranks. However, this is a team that used to boast the talents of Haaland and Bellingham—neither of whom they’ve adequately replaced. I’m not making bold predictions about them being ‘beatable,’ since most of this side reached the Champions League final last season.

But there are vulnerabilities we can certainly exploit.

As with every venture into European football, we must proceed with caution. Dortmund are still a formidable opponent, worthy of our respect. However, they’ve conceded seven goals in their last two league games, which suggests we’ll have chances. The key will be taking those chances while defending more resolutely than Bochum managed in the latter part of the game.

At this level, European football often comes down to psychology as much as skill, and that will be crucial for us. We need to be mentally strong from the first minute to the last. Conceding an early goal is something we simply can’t afford—especially given our track record of letting in early goals on our travels. Avoiding that will give us a real shot at success, and that comes down to mentality. This team should be drilled to avoid such openings.

We also need to be wary of chasing an early goal ourselves, as that can leave us exposed. The Ibrox club managed one, but no disrespect to Malmo—they’re not at the same level as the side we’re about to face.

While we should absolutely be alert for mistakes in their defensive third, and we have the players to capitalise on them, going all-out from the start wouldn’t be wise.

Patience will serve us better.

If we can frustrate their home crowd and play on the nervous energy that’s likely simmering after watching their team concede so many goals recently, we might just gain that extra 1% edge. If we do our jobs right, that might be enough to bring home a point—or even three.

It’s a fact, and we all know it: back home, our critics and adversaries are waiting for us to stumble. They’re sharpening their pencils, anticipating a hammering, eager to downplay our victory against Bratislava as nothing more than a fluke.

We know they’d love nothing more than to see us falter. So, yes, we have to be sharp and at our best. But there were encouraging signs in Dortmund’s performance against Bochum—reasons to believe that, apart from our own good form, we can take advantage.

As for our other German opponents, Leipzig, they were very impressive yesterday and comfortably secured their position in second place in the league.

They’re going to be tough, but the critical difference is that we’ll face them at Celtic Park. They’ll have to be more cautious than they would be at home, and that opens up opportunities for us to pick them off. It’ll come down to whether we can take our chances, as that will more than anything else decide our fate in this tournament.

I read today that some analysts suggest Celtic will need to secure 10 points from the eight games to progress. We already have our first three, so 10 from the home games isn’t out of reach. I’ve said from the start that I believe we can get 15 points, and I stand by that.

The landscape changes dramatically if we can win one of the next two away games, whether at Dortmund or Atalanta. Even a point from those matches would be a massive step toward the 10 points and qualification.

Our task didn’t get any easier the other night, but having watched the Germans play, it no longer seems like mission impossible. They have weaknesses we can exploit, though we must respect the fact they fought back and won because they have a couple of players of outstanding quality.

So, yes, there’s opportunity here, but there’s danger too. As I said earlier, much will depend on our mentality—and on the manager, and the team he’s able to put on the pitch.

I’m really looking forward to the game, and finding out what happens.