Atalanta were frustrated by dogged Celtic on Wednesday as the two sides played out a goalless draw in the Champions League in soaking Bergamo.
Kasper Schmeichel was the key man for Celtic as the Denmark goalkeeper kept Atalanta at bay, in particular in a frantic first half at the Gewiss Stadium.
A combination of Atalanta’s poor finishing and Schmeichel’s strong display between the sticks made sure that Celtic would return to Glasgow from northern Italy with a hard-fought point.
“They really defended a lot, but we were lacking a bit of quality today,” said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
“It’s rare to see a Champions League match dominated like that, and above all you rarely see a team battling for their league title defend so much.”
Wednesday’s draw provisionally moved Celtic up to 18th on four points in the new single league table, one point behind unbeaten Europa League holders Atalanta who sit 12th.
After being humiliated 7-1 at Borussia Dortmund last time out, Celtic proved a tougher nut to crack for Atalanta and were rewarded for their spirited rearguard action.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game here. We knew we had to learn from the Dortmund game and that we had to defend for our lives. We did that,” said Schmeichel to TNT Sports.
“I’m very proud of the boys, I think it was an incredible defensive performance… To come here and get a point is a good point.”
Atalanta should have been comfortably ahead at the break after pushing Celtic back into defending their own area and creating a clutch of chances, most of which fell to Mario Pasalic.
Croatia midfielder Pasalic was desperately unlucky not to open the scoring in the 18th minute when he headed onto the bar before stretching to nod the rebound onto the roof of the net.
Six minutes later Schmeichel just about managed to not let Pasalic’s low first-time finish through his legs before Davide Zappacosta blasted another good opportunity over from near the penalty spot.
And Schmeichel again kept the scores level just before half-time with a fantastic save from Mateo Retegui’s powerful header.
Atalanta were clearly on top but while the match remained goalless Celtic still had a chance to snatch the points, and Marco Carnesecchi had to be at his best to tip over Alex Valle’s deflected effort five minutes after the restart.
But that was Celtic’s last real foray forward as Atalanta continued to push for the win but bumped up against a green and white wall which refused to buckle under the pressure.
