Credit to the manager. Brendan Rodgers’ public comments after the Disaster in Dortmund, that he would be happier to lose 7-1 than what he saw was the alternative, to play defensively and lose 3 or 4-0, turned out to be a cunning ruse.
Just as in Dortmund, Celtic’s gameplan was evident from the opening two minutes, but whereas the last time we pushed into the Borussia box, last night we dropped deep, allowing Atalanta the ball and denying them space to exploit.
Adam Idah spent much of the game 30 yards from his own goal. He and Reo Hatate were the first line of resistance, protecting two tightly packed banks of four. When Atalanta tried to pass through, they scarcely saw a sniff of daylight all game. Instead, they were forced wide, from where they threw in an endless series of crosses.
Pasalic came closest. He got a run on Liam Scales and saw his header hit the crossbar and he put the rebound over. That aside, every opportunity Atalanta had was no more than a half chance, due to the presence of at least one Celtic defender, and often two.
Scales and his leftie central defensive partner, Auston Trusty, were imperious. We have seen this before from Scales, who has his second outstanding Champions League game of the season (think about that), but Trusty came of age in Bergamo. This defensive game suited him. Every ball into the box was challenged.
Alex Valle put in a shift Greg Taylor would have been proud of, while Alistair Johnston made at least two crucial blocks.
With 15 minutes to go, I am sure all of the Celtic support thought, “This lot could play all day and not score”. I chastised my dad for putting words to this thought, but in truth, Celtic were very comfortable throughout the second half.
Atalanta had two free kicks and a corner in added time to force the issue. Had they scored, we would have no complaints, but nor would we have been any less impressed by Celtic. This was a mature European performance. Credit to the players, as well.
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Goal
GERRYBHOY for the win!
That was our first 0-0 in Europe since Benfica in 2012.
Trusty Scales didn’t give up the ghost.
On to Murderwell on the highest of highs.
Ps Happy Friday eve!
Great result last night. Well done Brendan and the Bhoys!!
Concentration was the key element last night,great penalty box defending, points to improve on IMO are,cut down the amount of crosses into the box,and losing the ball around our box due to trying to pass it too much,sometimes we just need to launch it clear,we can take great confidence from last night
Tier one manager here for four in a row
Rightly magnanimous article about a guy who has appeared not to be your all-time-fave manager ;)
I was one of the ones previously questioning when Auston’s powers (geddit) would substantiate his price tag; what a night to produce the receipts!
Once Adam gives us a better Idah of his true capabilities, we might just have proof of a workable squad.
Only 4 points on the board but after two tough away ties, that’s remarkable.
HH
“With 15 minutes to go, I am sure all of the Celtic support thought, “This lot could play all day and not score”. I chastised my dad for putting words to this thought, but in truth, Celtic were very comfortable throughout the second half.
Yes, it was an excellent performance, as this team develops, we will see our transitions improve and we will our excellent counter-attacking display giving dividends.
Hail Hail
Clinical goalkeeping from our far-too-old keeper!
Well done Paul – that wasn’t to hard was it
A wee prayer this morning for Sebastián Guillermo Dávila 🙏,a motorcyclist involved in a road accident with Alfredo Morelos,who was over the limit for D&D
HH
Kasper Schmeichel and Joe Hart both excellent last night, so were Lenny and Dolph.
Mature is spot on. An Italian friend described them as the kings of the half chance so keep them scoreless is even more impressive
For all the talk of tactics before the game it was pretty straightforward match up, two fairly rigid approaches cancelling each other out. They put in 44 crosses, the most by any team in the tournament so far, we outnumbered them all game in our box and the two centre halves did what they are good at excellently. They are a very good team but they didnt have the individual brilliance to break us down. The only time they seriously threatened was when their attacking mid made runs into the box in the first half and we seemed to sort that out at half time.
A lot of credit to Brendan for changing the plan, particularly if it was with the opposition in mind. I reckon we’d have a decent chance of a similar result if we were to play them again using those tactics, maybe even sneaking a win.
Liam Scales must be in with a shout now for the Ballon D’or eh? por cierto
I won the blog podium for last night’s game.
Just saying…
Mmmmm.
Didn’t expect the Feyenoord away win at Benfica. Hajduk Split also won away. Lot of work still to be done.
Oh, and a wee mention for KS who was brilliant!
BADA BING!! @ 12:09
—————-
Yes indeed – Concentration, a new (pragmatic) approach and confidence restored and bolstered.
A good night, four points in the bag – now to build on it at home in November.HH
That’s our blueprint for Europe sorted . Pick the right tool in the box (no, I don’t mean Cyriel Dessers) , between defensive or offensive and vary the balance accordingly .
Away performances like last night’s should see far fewer 5/6/7 hammerings if any . We’ll still lose games ,but well pick up a few more draws and maybe even the odd win if we work on being sharper and more clinical in transition .
Dinamo Zagreb won at Salzburg who had their keeper sent off
I’m quite liking this new format,Leipzig now come to Celtic Park pointless, but they are a very good team
Og disagree Paul. They didnt score and we gained a valuable point and a massive shot in the arm that we can compete against the best.
A late winner would have deflated that balloon very quickly
A few of the big guns who haven’t picked up many points yet in this new format might be sweating a bit.
If it continues to go badly for them, I can easily imagine calls for a return to the old format from certain influential quarters .
Paul 67,
Sorry to disagree , if they had scored towards the end it would have changed our whole complexion of the game
We would not be so upbeat, we would not be discussing great individual performances , we would be cursing our luck yet again.
The big stick that Brendan talked about would have been back out. Instead the big stick has been reduced to a twig.
HH, the journey continues
A unified Celtic can be an unbeatable Celtic and the bloggers should also play there role.
Hail Hail
A proud Maestro
💚
That Brendan Rodgers fella is one cute hoor as perhaps a Kerryman might say. All week Brendan was saying he was not changing tactics for this game and the Italians fell for it hook line and sinker, there was to be no
gap as wide as the Missisippi up the middle this time and Paul has explained in detail how the masterclass worked.
Playing Adam Idah was the right choice and in addition to playing some neat flicks to teamates worked tirelessly in a defensive role. However it wasn’t all defense in that first half Celtic did threaten in attack on a few occasions but misplaced passes was a problem. This was a squad performance and when Brendan made the changes in the second half I couldn’t see one weaklink in the the players being introduced.
Kasper, Trusty, Scales and Valle were outstanding and Valle for a small guy is not lacking in the physical stakes and can pack a good shoulder charge as i observed on a couple of occasions against bigger opponents.
We are nicely on course now having played 3 won 1 and drawn 1 with a reasonable goal difference and that vital away point in the bag.
Upwards and onwards.HH
We are gaining some respect in others countries also which helps.
https://x.com/BBCMOTD/status/1849216443281207693?t=YtLj1GdDnQxsLIPxTyzYGA&s=19
now to support scotlands other teams for the coefficient ……………..
I can sort of see why Brendan is rallying against the idea that we went defensive last night. We were compact, dropped deeper but still very much tried to play our football. Last night was not backs to the wall and long ball.
Several times we misplaced fairly simple ten yard passes which would have seen us breaking the press and getting at Atalanta. That can be easily improved on and should we manage that, it’ll take us up another level.
We’ll need the same blueprint against Liepzig regardless of Celtic Park. They’re desperate for the points and are a very good team.
A creditable performance last night against one of our pot 2 opponents, and a welcome point after the capitulation in Dortmund (pot 1, 97 coeff points).
Next up we face Leipzig (also 97 coeff points), our other pot 1 opponent, who currently sit 5 places above Dortmund in the Bundesliga, having also finished above them last season.
Leipzig are currently on a run of 26 Bundesliga games with just one defeat, to an added time Harry Kane goal away to Bayern Munich in February. They beat Dortmund 4-1 towards the end of last season and won 3-2 away to last season’s invincible champions Leverkusen at the end of August (with Jeremie Frimpong on the scoresheet). They have only scored 8 goals in their other 6 (undefeated) league games this season, but have not conceded a single goal in any of those games. The last time Celtic met Leipzig in the CL, the Germans won home and away.
FeetOnGroundCSC
Can you coach a player to have better composure? Or does it separate good players from top players? About 6-8 times last night, and numerous previous games,we had possession in good areas,a 3 v 3 or 4 v 4,and a careless pass followed, it’s how the big teams kill us.
https://youtu.be/1l8sBZszKGw?si=NSmT4R5ZpDKyNiNX
Trusty post match, looks a good type of player
I should have also mentioned that should we ship any points at home to Leipzig, we have the advantage of playing our easiest away game (vs pot 4) in the final match. 🤔
Boca 10 stall at Braehead, selling some Celtic retro t shirts for £12, nice wee Christmas presents
Great tesult last night.
I watched and was very impressed by Leipzig. Strong, fast, skillful.
But, if you want to play in the major leagues this is what you get.
Very proud of our team last night to a man and and a coach. Nice to see Brendan getting some credit for a fantastic backs to the wall performance. We all know that we want to see Celtic attacking all the time, but was very impressed with our discipline and the work rate of everyone. Seems that Adam Idah is getting a wee bit of stick, but he did the job that he was asked to do. Yes there was a difference when Kyogo came on, but he is so unpredictable in his movement and his timing. I think Daizan has been a wee bit off in the last two games, maybe a wee rest and see if Palma can get his name back in the mix. Big Liam is confounding everyone and as someone said last night if he had a foreign accent and was called scalesadinho then maybe he would be getting credit from the off. he is a big honest player, whose overall game and positioning has improved. What a credit that is to our coaching staff and to the player himself. Big Trusty was immense last night too. The wee Barca kid put in a helluva shift. Liking him more and more every game. Now to go dig out my Steaua Bucharest Jersey and work on my Romanian accent between now and 2pm.
Hail Hail my friends.
This was the day that we drew away
we did rejoice and were glad with it.
This was the day that we drew away.
Sean
From L’Eco Di Bergamo paper
“Already on Monday evening, 21 October, mugs of beer were being raised in the Upper Town, in a pub with a British flavour. From Tuesday and even on match day, Wednesday 23 October, the green-and-white colours will also be seen around the city. Celtic fans will be travelling to Bergamo in large numbers: 1,300 of them will fill the guest sector of the Gewiss Stadium, but many (several hundred) are also in town without tickets and will follow the match in bars. As usual, football is mixed with tourism. But always with a sense of belonging: strictly dressed in green and white, several small groups of Celtic fans can be seen between the centre of Piacenza and Città Alta. Note of colour, quite a few of them walk around in shirts and shorts; accustomed to Glasgow’s more biting climate, Bergamo’s timid October weather has the warmth of early summer for them.”
Well Brendan does have a Plan B after all. This looks well when we still have 2 difficult games away to Zagreb and Villa. The fact we can sit deeper was not only helpful on the night, it will affect our opponents ability to work out how we will play. Atalanta ran out of ideas in the last 20mins.
Not only that but moving to a deeper setup will help us in game management terms and our ability to see out games where we have a two goal cushion like Aberdeen last Saturday.
I know we all love attacking football but having ability to change tactics to secure the points is invaluable.
In addition with the UCL new setup it is crucial that we can pick up points away from Home. Even more so when each game is not part of a tie but is a stand alone
Magnificent performance. Scales and Trusty in particular, but all 16 players were superb.