OKAY, hands up. Who saw that coming?
No, me neither.
Achieving a point at the Bergamo home of the highest-scoring team in the Serie A with 18 goals in eight games, the holders of the Europa League after thumping Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Final in Dublin in May.
That’s the same Bayer Leverkusen who went into that encounter in the Aviva Stadium on the back of a FIFTY-ONE game unbeaten run on their way to a German league and Cup double.
Atalanta warmed up for the visit of Brendan Rodgers’ side with a 3-0 triumph over the Ukrainians of Shakhtar Donetsk in Schalke’s Gelsenkirchen stadium.
The Italians had also been denied three points on matchday one of the Champions League after a dramatic penalty-kick save from Arsenal’s David Raya.
THUMB’S UP…Brendan Rodgers acknowledges the Celtic fans in Bergamo.
The Hoops’ last outing among Europe’s elite didn’t end well with Kasper Schmeichel retrieving the ball from his net on seven occasions. In truth, it was seven going on ten.
During Rodgers’ reign, the team had conceded 86 goals in 50 outings. That’s a fairly damning statistic. Even Lincoln Red Imps, champions of Gibraltar, had managed to penetrate the porous rearguard.
You need Dr Who’s tardis to travel back in time to the last occasion at this level the net had failed to rustle behind the Celtic keeper. That was on September 17 2017 when Rodgers’ men enjoyed a 3-0 victory over Anderlecht.
The Scottish champions arrived in Italy after throwing away a two-goal advantage against Aberdeen at Parkhead four days earlier.
It didn’t auger well, did it?
And, yet, our heroes didn’t only gain a precious point in northern Italy, they did so without Schmeichel having to visit his net on a memorable evening.
I am delighted to admit I got it wrong. Wonderfully wrong.
No-one in a green-and-white hooped shirt was a failure on this occasion. Nicolas Kuhn did very little to catch the eye, but he sacrificed his more comfortable attacking approach to dig in beside Alistair Johnston to curb the threat of their opponents on the left wing.
I watched as the hosts fired a variety of high balls into the Celtic box and I thanked our lucky stars the Italians had been forced to play to the strengths of Liam Scales and Auston Trusty who leapt high and often to repel the dangers.
MY BALL…Kasper Schmeichel in confident mode.
Schmeichel exuded the confidence of a keeper who has seen it all before. And at the age of 37 with 109 international caps for Denmark, you do wonder if there is anything left to surprise the legendary netminder.
I noted there were some rebukes for Adam Idah during his 68 minutes on the pitch before being replaced by Kyogo Furuhashi.
Yes, it’s true the Republic of Ireland frontman did not provide anything particularly illuminating and his touch was often heavy on an admittedly skiddy surface with rain drizzling down throughout.
Maybe his positional play wasn’t the best, either. Some of his runs were ill-timed, but please remember that the 23-year-old Cork-born player is a rookie at this level. He will be a better, more rounded player for the experience.
To put all this in focus, just look back to Tuesday October 22 last year. The strapping forward’s former club Norwich City were due to play Preston at Deepdale in an English second-tier confrontation.
Idah failed to win a place in the matchday squad. The game ended 2-2. And Idah’s best days are ahead of him.
HEAD BHOY…Liam Scales repels another aerial threat.
I could go through the entire team and the substitutes. Reo Hatate and Arne Engels attempted to support Idah when they saw daylight ahead of them, but essentially all three were aware of the fact they were the team’s first point of resistance.
Alex Valle? Wow! Is the on-loan Barcelona left-back only 20 years old? His performance on this outing far outweighed his inexperience on a first-team level.
Callum McGregor again marshalled and cajoled his way through another 90 minutes-plus with the sort of showing we have come to expect from the captain.
However, above everything else that was on display on this occasion, one quality stood out above all else.
The depth of character in this squad.
And that, my friends, is a commodity that cannot be bought.
ALEX GORDON
