It had the signs of being a tough one for Celtic from the off, with Emre Can netting the opener for Dortmund after just eight minutes.
But despite the early setback, the Scottish side hit back two minutes later, with Daizen Maeda bundling home from close range to restore parity at the Signal Iduna Park.
However, no sooner had Dortmund kicked off again were the hosts back in front, this time Karim Adeyemi netting his first of what would turn out to be three goals on the night.
By that point, the floodgates had opened, with Dortmund adding a third, fourth and eventually fifth before the half-time break.
There was some letup in the second period, but the Bundesliga outfit were still able to net another two before the referee called time on what proved to be yet another humiliating defeat in Europe for Rodgers' Celtic.
Tuesday night's defeat extended the Northern Irishman's unwanted record of having been on the end of a defeat by six or more goals away from home in the Champions League during each of his seasons as manager with Celtic in the competition.
Celtic left Dortmund with their tails between their legs after a chastening night. (Image: Getty)
Any Celtic fans hoping for a change of approach in Europe might be left wanting though, given Rodgers doubled down on the tactics during his post-match debrief.
When quizzed on why the Hoops continue to be shown up on the continental stage, a defiant Rodgers replied: "It's exactly the teams mentioned... Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid.
"We always have to adapt, but sometimes the quality just breaks through that. Are we going to sit in and camp and wait [for a counter-attack]? No, we won't do that.
"We play a way that allows us to domestically dominate. We know it's going to be difficult at times to do that [in Europe]. I thought tonight we weren't anywhere near that level, we just gave it away too easily and obviously we got punished from that."
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Self-inflicted mistakes proved to be the pattern of the game for Celtic, with several Dortmund goals coming because of the visitors' own undoing.
On the unforced errors that led to Dortmund goals, Rodgers claimed: "We're really disappointed with the result and performance-wise. I don't think I have been involved in a game where virtually every mistake we made got punished, that's the level.
"We could have been better with the ball but I think the early goals seemed to spook us a little bit and we didn't play with the same confidence. They were playing at a high level.
"Second half the guys showed great spirit. We had more possession of the ball and took greater risk with the ball and looked to create but ultimately we were beaten by a much better team."
Celtic face Atalanta in Bergamo next time out, ahead of matches against RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Dinamo Zagreb before the turn of the year.
