Click the 'Listen live' button for Sportsound commentary
To watch live updates and commentary, click the 'Watch & Listen' tab for 5 Live Champions League Final Score coverage
Pasalic crashes header off crossbar but Celtic stand firm amid Atalanta pressure
Idah replaces Kyogo up front in Celtic's only change
Celtic now on four points from three games
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
Joe Hart
Former Celtic goalkeeper on TNT Sports
Booked in the eighth minute against a lively Atalanta team, Alistair Johnston will be on a knife-edge now.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston picks up his customary booking early as he clatters into Zappacosta, who was racing away.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
Measured build up from the Italians with a couple of crosses coming in, one from each flank. The second meets the head of Raoul Bellanova but his effort is easily gathered by Kasper Schmeichel.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
Nicolas Kuhn tries to squeeze through a gap between the two Atalanta central defenders but the Celtic winger is muscled out.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
James McFadden
Former Scotland forward on BBC Sportsound
Already Adam Idah has had a few touches of the ball with Celtic looking to build attacks.
Image source, Getty ImagesAtalanta 0-0 Celtic
A sloppy pass from Reo Hatate sets up a home attack within seconds. Mateo Retegui makes a mess of the cross though.
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
The wee stadium is rocking as Bosnian referee Irfan Peljto peeps his whistle to get the game started.
Image source, SNSAtalanta v Celtic (17:45)
With last season's top scorer Gianluca Scamacca out with a long-term injury, Mateo Retegui is the current Atalanta danger man.
The Argentina-born Italy international has six goals in his last four games for club and country and has eight in eight Serie A outings since his summer move from Genoa.
The 25-year-old is waiting for his first Champions League goal after missing a penalty against Arsenal.
Image source, SNSAtalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers tells TNT Sports: "If you watched last night, Dortmund concede five goals in the second half. It’s such a high level, games can get away from you. That was a sore one for us [7-1 in Dortmund], it was hard to take, but this is a real honest group of players who have come here to make life difficult for Atalanta.
"Atalanta are a very physical team, a very aggressive team, and at times you have to play through that press into your front man. There will be a lot of individual duels, one-on-one.
"You hear a lot of things about strategy. We go into every game looking to defend well. We conceded early goals in Dortmund which spooked us because we weren't compact enough.
"We go into every game looking to be compact; sometimes that’s pressing high, sometimes in that middle third and sometimes in the defensive third.
"It’s not Russian roulette football. I wouldn't be a very wise coach, or stood here today if that was how I coached."
Image source, SNSAtalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Dutch midfielder Teun Koopmeiners was the big summer departure for Atalanta, moving to Juventus for around £50m.
The Bergamo club approached Celtic with several offers for Matt O'Riley but finally opted for Charles De Ketelaere from AC Milan as Brighton met Celtic's asking price for O'Riley.
The 23-year-old Belgian has just one goal and one assist so far and is on the bench this evening.
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers knows all about Ademola Lookman, having worked with the Nigeria forward at Leicester City.
He also tried to sign him during his first spell with Celtic, only to be outbid by Everton in January 2017.
"I'm so proud of him and the career that he's had," said Rodgers yesterday. "He leads his life in the right way, everything is geared towards being the best he can."
Image source, SNSAtalanta's Ademola Lookman warming up pre-match
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
That Europa League run was mightily impressive too.
In the knockout phase, Atalanta beat Lisbon giants Sporting before absolutely rinsing Liverpool and Marseille to set up a meeting with Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin.
The Germans were aiming to continue an 'invincible season', having run away with the Bundesliga, but were on the wrong end of a 3-0 chasing as Ademola Lookman banged in a hat-trick.
Image source, Getty ImagesAtalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Atalanta's Europa League victory last season doubled the club's tally of major honours, adding to their 1963 Coppa Italia triumph.
Celtic have celebrated 118 pieces of silverware over the years.
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Celtic's Champions League record in Italy is played seven, lost seven.
In all competitions, there is one win in 15, with 11 defeats.
That one success came against Lazio in the Europa League group stage in 2019.
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
This is just a fourth taste of the Champions League for Atalanta, who made their debut at this level in 2019-20.
They opened this campaign with a 0-0 draw at home to Arsenal and followed that with a 3-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Will Celtic adopt a more cagey approach after their 7-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund?
At Tuesday's media conference Brendan Rodgers fielded a few questions on that topic.
Here's a taste of what he said...
"I started coaching over 25 years ago, and from the very beginning my coaching has always been aggressive. And until the day I finish it will be aggressive.
"I'm also respectful that where you play against teams at a certain level, certain opponents, you have to really look at their strengths.
"But don’t say I don't do that in every game, because I do, no matter what team we are playing, whether it's in Scotland or in the Champions League.
"It’s the level at which you can get punished. You have to have the balance in your game, you have to be really strong defensively."
Image source, SNSAtalanta v Celtic (17:45)
James McFadden
Former Scotland forward on BBC Sportsound
It's a huge task tonight for Celtic to face the Europa League winners of last season.
They were the only side that beat Bayern Leverkusen in any competition last season.
It's going to be a tough game but if Celtic approach it in the right way, they can get something out of it.
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Does he wish he was out there playing?
Former Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart is at the game on media duty.
At 37, he is four months younger than his replacement Kasper Schmeichel.
Image source, SNSAtalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter at Gewiss Stadium
It's been a miserable, wet day in Bergamo and the rain is still coming down as we approach kick-off.
There were plenty of green and white hooped jerseys in and around the town yesterday when the sun was shining.
Speaking to some of the travelling Celtic fans, it's fair to say they come here in hope rather than expectation of a positive result. The drubbing in Dortmund has certainly dented confidence and they face another tough test in Atalanta.
The good news is after this two of the hardest games in this league phase will be behind them and if Celtic can somehow eke something out of this game, their bid to reach the knockout stages will be in good shape.
Image source, SNSSmiling in the rain...
Atalanta v Celtic (17:45)
Atalanta defensive duo Sead Kolasinac and Isak Hien have shaken off illnesses to start.
The former missed the weekend win at Venezia, while the Swede had to go off at half-time.
Skipper Marten De Roon moves back into midfield with Kolasinac returning and that means Charles De Ketelaere drops out.
Celtic withstand Atalanta pressure to secure draw
A terrific defensive display brought Celtic an important Champions League point as they held last season's Europa League winners Atalanta to a goalless draw in Bergamo.
Having lost all previous seven matches on Italian soil in this competition, Celtic resisted periods of immense pressure from the hosts to take a significant step in their bid to reach the knockout stage.
Kasper Schmeichel made some excellent saves and Atalanta wasted a number of good opportunities, but the defensive discipline of the Scottish champions ultimately frustrated the Serie A side.
After two tough away matches, Celtic now have back-to-back home games against RB Leipzig and Club Brugge with four points in the bank, while next up for Atalanta is a trip to Stuttgart.
Celtic's fortunes could hardly have fluctuated more wildly across their opening two Champions League matches – the high of a tremendous 5-1 home win against Slovan Bratislava on matchday one, followed by a chastening 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.
The Scottish champions looked a far more compact team than the ragged outfit that were picked apart in Germany as they rebounded from that loss by keeping just their second ever away clean sheet in the competition.
Watch all of Kasper Schmeichel's saves in Celtic's draw with Atalanta
Atalanta clearly identified defending crosses as a weakness in their opponents and spent the first half bombarding the Celtic box with deliveries from wide on both flanks.
Mario Pasalic was on the end of many of them and saw a header crash back off the crossbar with Schmeichel beaten.
The Danish goalkeeper had earlier produced a great stop to deny Ademola Lookman, and made a brilliant save to deny Mateo Retegui as the home side came on strong at the end of the first half.
Celtic were defending well without having much opportunity to break out, though Nicolas Kuhn might have done better after outpacing the Atalanta defence and breaking into the box before being crowded out.
Scoreless at half-time was a solid foundation on which to build for the visitors, and they almost had the dream start to the second period when Alex Valle's deflected strike had to be tipped over by Marco Carnesecchi in the Atalanta goal.
The home side were soon cranking up the pressure again and Marten de Roon's strike from the edge of the box drew a good save from Schmeichel.
Kyogo Furuhashi came off the bench and got in behind the Atalanta defence, only for his lobbed effort to drop the wrong side of the bar.
Atalanta continued to dominate the ball, but Celtic’s sheer doggedness in defence frustrated the life out of them. The visitors held on to take a well-earned point and the acclaim of their travelling fans who applauded a job well done.
Celtic 'showed courage' in Atalanta draw - Brendan Rodgers
"An assault on your spirit" was how Brendan Rodgers described that walloping in the Westfalenstadion. The manager was bullish in his insistence he would not compromise his attacking philosophy for a more pragmatic style against the bigger guns in this competition.
This was a different Celtic though, a more resolute and organised unit than the side that crumbled against Dortmund.
Adam Idah starting ahead of Kyogo to lead the line was a tactical switch from Rodgers, with the Irishman offering himself up for direct balls when Celtic needed to relieve the pressure and get themselves up the pitch.
In the absence of defensive lynchpin Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Auston Trusty stood up with towering displays at the heart of the defence. Those two were standouts in a tremendous collective effort.
The midfield trio of Callum McGregor, Arne Engels and Reo Hatate put in tireless shifts, and while the team's use of the ball could have been better at times, they eliminated the type of individual errors that proved so ruinous in Dortmund.
For too long Celtic have been a soft touch away from home in Europe, but Rodgers may finally have struck upon a gameplan that makes them an altogether more resilient side away from the comforts of Celtic Park.
Atalanta made European football sit up and take notice when they embarked on that epic Europa League run last season that took them all the way to the trophy.
They look very comfortable at Champions League level, having drawn at home to Arsenal and dispatched Shakhtar Donestk in their two previous European matches.
What they lacked here was a killer instinct. With the amount of possession, territory and good chances they had, they will wonder how they failed to break Celtic down.
Much of that is down to an excellent defensive display from the Parkhead men, but having been similarly frustrated against Arsenal on matchday one, the Italians will need to adapt and find new ideas against sides capable of absorbing pressure if they are to go on another memorable European run this season.
'The players were so brave' - McGregor praises Celtic Champions League recovery
Celtic have kept a Champions League clean sheet for the first time since a 3-0 win over Anderlecht in September 2017, ending a run of 18 games without one in which they shipped 51 goals.
Although they failed to score in the first half, Atalanta accumulated an xG (expected goals) total of 1.71, the fourth highest by a team in the first half of a Champions League game this season. Indeed, two of those four highest first-half xG totals have been against Celtic, with Borussia Dortmund posting 2.1 xG in their match on 1 October.
Celtic attempted four shots in this game, their fewest in a match in this Champions League season.
Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has made six saves in each of his last two Champions League appearances. Here he became the first Celtic goalkeeper to make as many as six saves and keep a clean sheet in a Champions League game on record (since 2003-04).
The goalless draw ended a run of 85 consecutive games in major European matches without a 0-0 for Celtic, with their last such result coming against Benfica back in September 2012 in a Champions League match.
Atalanta are just the second team on record in the Champions League (from 2008-09 onwards) to have 20+ shots (22) and 50+ touches in the opposition box (54) and not score a goal, along with Paris St-Germain against Borussia Dortmund in last season’s semi-final second leg (30 shots, 50 touches in the opposition box).
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 7 |
| |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| |
| 5 | Brest | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
|
| 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| |
| 8 | Sporting CP | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
|
| 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| |
| 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| |
| 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| |
| 13 | Benfica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
|
| 14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| |
| 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| |
| 16 | Feyenoord | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 6 |
|
| 17 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| |
| 18 | Stuttgart | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
|
| 19 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 4 |
| |
| 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 4 |
| |
| 21 | Sparta Prague | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 4 |
|
| 22 | Dinamo Zagreb | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 4 |
|
| 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 |
| |
| 24 | Girona | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
|
| 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
| |
| 26 | Club Brugge | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 3 |
|
| 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 3 |
| |
| 28 | PSV | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 2 |
|
| 29 | Bologna | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 1 |
|
| 30 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 1 |
|
| 31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 0 |
| |
| 32 | Sturm Graz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 |
|
| 33 | Red Star Belgrade | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | -9 | 0 |
|
| 34 | Red Bull Salzburg | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -9 | 0 |
|
| 35 | Young Boys | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -9 | 0 |
|
| 36 | Slovan Bratislava | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | -10 | 0 |
|
Manager: Gian Piero Gasperini
Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2
Manager: Brendan Rodgers
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: Gian Piero Gasperini
Formation: 3 - 4 - 1 - 2
Manager: Brendan Rodgers
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
UEFA Champions League
All competitions
This will be Atalanta’s first ever meeting with Celtic and their first European game against a Scottish team.
Celtic have lost their last seven UEFA Champions League games against Italian teams by an aggregate score of 15-1 since winning 2-1 against Milan in October 2007. Away from home, Celtic have lost every single one of their seven Champions League visits to Italy.
Atalanta are looking to win successive games in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since March 2020, reaching the quarter-final that season.
Since beating RSC Anderlecht 3-0 in September 2017, Celtic have lost eight of their last nine away matches in the UEFA Champions League, conceding 36 goals in that period (4 per game).
Atalanta have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four games in major European competition, the last Italian side to do so in five straight games was Milan in April 2023.
Since the start of 2022-23, Celtic have conceded more goals than any other side in the UEFA Champions League (38 – 2.7 per game), while no side has a higher xG per shot faced (0.13) than them among teams that have played at least 10 games in that time.
Celtic have won two of their last three games in the UEFA Champions League (L1), not since November 2007 under Gordon Strachan have they won at least three games in a period of four games or fewer in the competition.
Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman has been involved in eight goals in his last five starts in major European competition (6 goals, 2 assists), while in the UEFA Champions League this season, only three forwards have won possession in the final third more often than him (4).
Against Shakhtar Donetsk last time out, Atalanta’s Lazar Samardzic created six chances and completed seven dribbles, becoming the first player to complete as many for both metrics in a UEFA Champions League game since Lionel Messi for Barcelona against Internazionale in October 2019.
Daizen Maeda has scored in each of Celtic’s first two games in the UEFA Champions League this season, and could become the first player to score in three successive games for them in the competition.
