“It was a very special game, my first hat trick, the team scored a lot of goals,” said Adeyemi on Prime Video: “Every shot went in.” Captain Emre Can was also happy, but didn’t want to praise too much: “There is no such thing as a perfect game, but it was very, very good. That has to be our standard and our claim.”
Led by their dribbling king, BVB dismantled Scottish champions Celtic Glasgow 7:1 (5:1) – and after storming into the final of the previous season with a six-point dream start, they clung to the top of the Champions League. BVB has never won higher in the premier class: their previous record win was a 6-0 at Legia Warsaw in 2016.
Adeyemi (11th/29th/42nd) clearly stood out from a strong collective with his speed and enthusiasm. He not only scored as he wanted – he also forced the penalty to make it 4-1. However, at the beginning of the second half he had to leave the field injured; he had clutched his right thigh with his face contorted in pain. Adeyemi left with his head bowed and the fans gave him a standing ovation.
“I hope it’s not that bad,” Adeyemi said. You have to wait for the examinations: “Hopefully I’ll be back quickly.”
Captain Emre Can (7th) and Serhou Guirassy (40th/66th) also took part in the Dortmund goal festival, each converting a penalty. Felix Nmecha scored the seventh goal (79th). The extremely playful Dortmund team easily dealt with Daizen Maeda’s temporary equalizer for the defensively overwhelmed Scots (9th). At the start, BVB won 3-0 at FC Bruges, which laid the foundation for a place in the round of 16.
The turnaround to 4-2 in the Revierderby against VfL Bochum had saved the mood – although coach Nuri Sahin wanted to see much more defensive stability this time. As a Liverpool player, he once had a close look under current Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers: “I loved every session with him and had a lot written down for my coaching career.”
After a huge protest choreography (“UEFA MAFIA”) by BVB fans against greed for money and artificially inflated competitions, the game began in a heated atmosphere. Borussia started with constant pressure, which quickly led to the first penalty kick: goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel brought Jamie Gittens off his feet, and Can scored the eleventh goal for BVB in his eleventh attempt.
The fact that the captain didn’t look good when he equalized and just grazed the ball with his head was immediately forgotten by Adeyemi’s quick goal after a through ball from Julian Brandt. Celtic hadn’t conceded a single goal in their first six league games in Scotland – in Dortmund they conceded two in eleven minutes. More should follow.
BVB had no trouble breaking up the defense with quick combinations; Guirassy, who was well integrated, could have increased the score early on (23′). Adeyemi then did this spectacularly with a 16-meter shot from a tight angle. The balls just flew around the pitiful Schmeichel’s ears: first from the penalty spot again, then Adeyemi was allowed to take it again.
Sahin took the opportunity to make further early changes and Dortmund shifted down two gears. When they briefly got serious again, the sixth goal came: Guirassy made Liam Scales look old with two feints in the penalty area. The rest was a black and yellow European Cup party.
