“Feed the Bear,” was the chant from the Jungle back in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s as Roy Aitken imposed himself on opponents and drove Celtic on…

Now an ambassador for the club Roy is in Bergamo with the Celtic party for this evening’s Champions League match against Atalanta and The Bear is eyeing this one up as a possibility for Celtic to get something on the road. He reckons though that Celtic’s fate in this season’s Champions League will be determined not on the road but in the matches at Celtic Park.

He also looked back on the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen on Saturday afternoon that finished in a 2-2 draw and ultimately was a great advertisement for the Scottish game.

“I enjoyed the game,” Big Roy said. “Aberdeen showed they’re going to be a challenger this year, to a point. But are they going to topple us at the end of the season? I doubt it very much.

“I think we’re still far better than anyone else in the country. All credit to Aberdeen – I had good times up there, winning the League Cup when I was manager. But my best days were at Celtic Park, so my loyalty is with Celtic when it comes to those games.

“Aberdeen did well, and their new manager has them playing well. We play them in a couple of weeks of course at Hampden, but I still think we’re far better than any other team in Scottish football at this moment,” the Bear added.

On the mouth-watering tie the evening at the 25k capacity Gewiss stadium in Bergamo, Aitken outlined his assessment of this one, which is essentially a free fit for Celtic as no-one really expect the team to pick up any points tonight.

“I think it’s a great game. I love the format this year with the eight games,” The Bear said. “Our four away ties were always going to be difficult. We saw that in Dortmund, and it’ll be the same again tonight against Atalanta. These are great games for the players to be involved in, and I believe we do have a chance.

‘It’ll come down to our home games, but it would be fantastic to pick up something here tonight in Bergamo. We have to be at our best to do that,” the Celtic legend added.

“It’s a massive test, but it’s a test in a positive way. Brendan’s always said continuously he wants to take the level of the group up, and he’s done that. We’ve played great football from the start of the season, sitting up there at the top of the league.

“We had a fantastic night against Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park a few weeks ago, one of the best nights I’ve seen there, to be honest. The supporters were fantastic, and the team played so well. Brendan’s building a squad to compete at this level.”

“This is a tough match. Atalanta are a top team in Italy, and they won the Europa League last year. It’s always good to gauge ourselves at this level, but I think it’s our home form at Celtic Park that will determine where we go. Any points picked up away, including tonight, will be a real bonus.”

ON CELTIC SHORTS…Atalanta v Celtic – Match snippets, comments and predicted line- ups