It's sometimes difficult to separate what is real and what is mythical about German football.

Sure, tickets are cheaper and fans are allowed to swill beer between chants, but the Bundesliga isn't always the utopian vision of the sport it is frequently painted to be.

However, there is certainly something to be said about German football's prudence and shrewdness.

While the Premier League splurges money more recklessly than Channel 4 does on baking shows, Bundesliga clubs tend to count the pennies more attentively.

It's not that they're scrimpers, just pragmatists. Borussia Monchengladbach are the epitome of this ethos.

As a Champions League club, spending £25m in the summer transfer window, the Foals aren't exactly minnows, but consider that their outlay was offset by the £38m they collected in sales and the success of their approach becomes apparent.

Season after season Gladbach lose their best players (Dante, Marco Reus, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Granit Xhaka) and season after season they find a way to replace them.

Max Eberl, the club's sporting director, must take credit for that. In a country that has embraced the sporting director model, Eberl is regarded as one of the best.

Borussia Monchengladbach have in a sense succeeded in the way Celtic hoped to not so long ago, replacing key players sold for big money with undervalued talents plucked from secondary markets.

They did it with Reus, bringing in Raffael from Dinamo Kiev, they did it with Ter Stegen, signing Jan Sommer from Basel and they did it this summer with Xhaka, replacing the Arsenal-bound midfielder with German international Christoph Kramer.

Peter Lawwell might wish to study what they've done when the two sides meet on Wednesday.

Once fallen giants of the Germany game, Gladbach have been revived in recent years.

Lucien Favre played a significant role in that resurgence, finishing as high as third place in the Bundesliga table in the 2014/15 season, qualifying automatically for the Champions League.

Head coach Andre Schubert has continued that development, leading the club back to the top of the European game this season.

Monchengladbach need a result on Wednesday night just as much, possibly more so, than Celtic do. They have lost their opening two group games in the Champions League this season, suffering a heavy defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium and losing to Barcelona at home.

Three points in the east end of Glasgow would give them a platform for the rest of the campaign.

While Barcelona and Man City are widely expected to claim the top two spots in Group C for themselves, Celtic and Gladbach will most likely fight it out for third position and a place in the Europa League knockout rounds. There's a lot riding on Wednesday's clash at Celtic Park for both clubs.

Regardless of how they have been forged, what kind of team will Celtic face? Monchengladbach excel in quick counter-attacking play, moving swiftly between the lines of transition.

Brendan Rodgers must be wary of how his team's own attacking intent could be exposed on the breakaway.

Progressive in their approach on and off the field, Schubert is expected to opt for his favoured three-man defence against Celtic, with Tony Jantschke, Andreas Christensen and Nico Elvedi likely to start as the trio at the back.

That could favour the likes of Scott Sinclair, James Forrest and Patrick Roberts, who will look to make the most of the space left in behind in the wide areas.

Celtic could find themselves overrun in midfield, though. Christoph Kramer and Mahmoud Dahoud have formed a strong partnership in the centre of the pitch, with Tobias Strobl still struggling for fitness.

Patrick Herrmann and Oscar Wendt should form the rest of Schubert's midfield line.

Then there's Lars Stindl in the number 10 role behind the central attacking pair of Raffael and Thorgan Hazard, although there are fitness concerns over both players ahead of Wednesday night's clash at Celtic Park. Should Hazard recover from a knee injury in time a glimpse into one of European football's brightest young talents will be offered.

Indeed, the brother of Chelsea's Eden Hazard, Thorgan is the headline act for Monchengladbach, opening his Champions League account in the home defeat to Barcelona earlier this month. The 23-year-old is reported to have a buyback clause written into this contract, joining Gladbach from Chelsea last summer, and has already been linked with a move back to Stamford Bridge.