As mouth-watering as seven goals by Borussia Dortmund, the clash between the German side and Celtic in the Champions League had an element off the field that was every bit as remarkable. Before the kick-off of the game, Dortmund's famous Yellow Wall - home to its most ardent fans - had organised a fierce protest against UEFA and recent decisions taken by the body. The message was carried on through the banners and flags that soccer is being dominated by money at the cost of the sporting spirit that should prevail.
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Yellow wall's outcry
This is not fresh discontent for the fans of Borussia Dortmund, but this time, their message was more pointed. "UEFA Mafia" read many of the banners alongside others voicing displeasure at an organization they feel has made money the bottom line rather than the beautiful game. To the Yellow Wall, UEFA had opted for millions of euros over the millions of fans that make soccer the world's most popular sport.
The fans also unrolled a banner featuring a web address pointing to a blog that aggregates statements from various European supporter groups against UEFA's reforms of its competitions. The blog has a motto that is more battle cry: "Soccer for millions of fans, not for millions of euros." This critique is at the core of the question that continues to split opinion down the middle in the soccer world: how far away have European club competitions moved from their humble origins?
History of protests
It is not the first time that supporters of Dortmund have shown their discontent with UEFA's changes: scenes similar to this have happened before in a Champions League match last season against Newcastle. That time, as well as banners, there was a showering of fake money and gold onto the field at halftime from the Yellow Wall-a most pointed attack on what they consider to be the extreme commercialization of the sport.
But this wasn't all Dortmund talking a message today. Celtic fans also utilized the Champions League platform to fly the flag for Palestine. Flags of Palestine were flown, while messages of support were unwrapped-a testament to soccer's often-used political and social voice, particularly at times like in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The match: A Borussia goal fest
While protests headlined the event in front of the game, performances by Borussia Dortmund on the pitch were the other standout of the evening. Their 7-1 thrashing of Celtic reaffirmed how strong the German team is in this year's campaign of the Champions League. The show was started with goals by Emre Can and Nmecha, but the real star of the night was Adeyemi, with his first-half hat trick, thus cementing his place in the club's history.
This victory kept Borussia Dortmund with a perfect record in the league phase of the tournament, with a nice difference of nine, while very comfortable at the top of the standings.
Adeyemi's record-breaking performance
Besides contributing to his team's memorable win, Adeyemi shone individually to become the youngest German to score 10 goals in the Champions League, shortly after his 23rd birthday. That puts him in the company of the elite few who have made their marks early in the competition, as he is just the second German player to score three goals in the first half of a Champions League game, after Mario Gomez achieved that feat in 2011.