As the first chills of autumn crept into Glasgow, Celtic nevertheless found themselves in a sweat as they laboured against a Borussia Monchengladbach side that were as graceful to watch as any team that has turned up Celtic Park in the UEFA Champions League.

It was a night to forget for Kolo Toure who had a culpable hand in both Borussia's goals, but in truth it was a victory crafted from a fine visiting performance. Few Celtic fans would argue that the scoreline could have been significantly more substantial.

Lars Stindl, the technician in the middle of the park for Andre Schubert's side, nabbed the opener just before the hour mark before Andre Hahn added another to make the Bundesliga side only the third team to win at Celtic Park in the competition.

Barcelona and AC Milan are the other two to achieve that feat and on this evidence the Germans were worthy additions to that company.

The Bundesliga side arrived without the same fear factor as Barcelona and Manchester City but within the first few minutes of this game they had served notice of their ability to deliver another lesson in Champions League football.

Borussia’s pressing, their aggression and the pace with which they moved the ball – and themselves – spooked Celtic. And the crowd.

An inevitable cacophony had greeted the players as they emerged from the tunnel but as Borussia restricted their movement and penned them back into their own half, it was the voices of the visiting support that punctured the air of heavy silence while the busy blur of black and green jerseys had Celtic chasing shadows at times.

Celtic did not get the chance to race out of the blocks and put down an early marker simply because the visitors would not let them.

Instead, Brendan Rodgers' side found themselves on the backfoot for much of the opening period, with Hahn giving an early indication of their potent threat going forward when he made three successive incursions from the left within the opening five minutes.

Stindl, the Borussia captain, ran the show in the middle of the park with Celtic’s trio of Scott Brown, Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic all struggling to impose in any way.

In saying that, it was against the run of play that the Australian gave Celtic a cracking opportunity – their only real one in the game – when he delivered a fine reverse pass into the feet of Scott Sinclair that split the visiting defence.

Sinclair raced to collect but uncharacteristically lost his composure as he blazed high and wide over the bar, just as the first 45 came to a close.

Indeed, it said much that the busiest for Celtic in that difficult opening period was Craig Gordon, with the keeper making a fine save to deny Ibrahima Traore after an impressive move that had started all the way from the back before the Scotland stopper had to make the quick dart to his left-hand post.

And given just how deft Borussia were at going forward, Celtic did not need to flirt with dangerous living. Bitton was guilty of a careless header just inside his own half that left Gordon having to push away an attempt from Hahn.

Christopher Kramer was as influential as Stindl and for much of the game Celtic were relegated to simply pushing the ball away, only to find that it came back. Again and again.

Given that Schubert’s side were without four of their regular starters, there is sufficient evidence to assume that Celtic will not relish what the return leg in Germany holds.

It was not just on the pitch that the visitors lit up Glasgow – flares let off by the Borussia fans will not have gone down too well with the authorities.

Rodgers kept faith with the same men after the break and there was a brief flash of revival when Sinclair rose to meet a Mikael Lustig cross that that went just wide.

Inspired by that, Sinclair almost came close to teeing up Moussa Dembele – a spectator for most of the game – when he managed to hold off his man in the box but his final pass was poor and the chance was lost.

Ultimately though, Celtic were edgy whenever Borussia came forward and when Tobias Strobl curled a shot from the edge of the box that dropped just wide of Gordon’s post, there was a collective holding of breathe inside the stadium.

There was an air of inevitability that Celtic would not hold, and they didn't.

Toure has been an impressive signing for Celtic but he will not want to watch a repeat viewing of last night's action.

As the veteran stopper tried to usher the ball out of play, Hahn nicked in and Stindl put the ball through Gordon’s legs at the near post. It got worse still for the defender when he was dispossessed by Stindle before Hahn rifled a shot well beyind Gordon's reach. In truth, it was a just reward for the manner in which Borussia Monchengladbach dominated the game against Celtic.

Celtic had tried in vain to get themselves back into it with Leigh Griffiths, Callum McGregor and Patrick Roberts all brought on but in fairness it was a game that they never looked like taking anything from.

The result in Barcelona will work in the Parkhead side's favour but they will look to themselves for the lessons they need to absorb from what was another chastening European experience.