Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta have prepared for their clash with Celtic on Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory over Venezia in Serie A…
Last season’s Europa League winners comfortably beat Venezia last night who sit bottom of the table in Italy’s top flight. Heading into their encounter with the Hoops they could not have handpicked a more kinder fixture.
Gasperini’s thrilling side currently sit in 6th place, winning four of their first eight games, drawing once, losing on three occasions.
‘La Dea’ who seemed to suffer from a hangover from last season started their league campaign poorly. However, Atalanta have now won their last three games in all competitions including an impressive 3-0 victory in Poland against Shakhtar Donetsk in their previous Champions League match.
Accumulating four points in two games, Atalanta scared Arsenal in their opening Champions League outing. An unbelievable double save from the penalty spot by David Raya prevented Gasperini’s men picking up a famous three points versus English Premier League runners up from last season.
However, there is some positive news for Brendan Rodgers. Atalanta will have several players missing from Wednesday’s Champions League fixture, including skipper Rafael Toloi who will be absent from the clash. Italian internationalists Marco Brescianini and Giorgio Scalvani are also unavailable for selection. Former Arsenal left-back Sead Kolasinac remains a major doubt for the game.
Selection headaches galore for the Italians who are major favourites going into Wednesday evening.
Celtic have only won once on Italian soil once and that came back in 2019 at the Stadio Olympico against Lazio in the Europa League following Olivier Ntcham’s iconic last minute winner. Brendan Rodgers will be hoping to replicate a similar kind of result at the Gewiss Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers’ side suffered at the Westfalenstadion. The same cannot happen again. Celtic’s European away record is deplorable, especially under the Irishman’s tenure in both of his spells. Gasperini’s side are a similar profile to Dortmund. They have the technical prowess and skill to severely punish mistakes.
A challenging task awaits, but it is one the players should embrace. Confidence has dissipated following the demolition in Germany. Perhaps we could be in for a pleasant surprise come Wednesday evening, but the Europa League winners are formidable and should Celtic not defend properly, we may be in for a long night.
Conor Spence
