It is to Gian Piero Gasperini’s great credit that Atalanta have lost the element of surprise.

Celtic visit to Bergamo during the Italian club’s fourth Champions League campaign in six years. Before then, Atalanta had never graced the competition in a history characterised more by bouncing around the divisions. Since a memorable debut run to the quarter-finals in the Covid-hit 2019/20 season, La Dea have bloodied some famous noses and captured the public imagination with their fast, fearless football. 

Just ask Declan Rice. The Arsenal and England midfielder was left puffing his cheeks out in relief after the Premier League giants escaped Lombardy with a 0-0 draw on the opening night thanks to David Raya’s penalty-rebound double wonder save. “They have had the same manager for years and they play man-to-man all over the pitch,” Rice said.

“They are a really tough team to crack. They follow you all over the pitch, it’s hard to adjust.”

Gasperini’s eight seasons in charge have been the most glittering and glorious years of Atalanta’s history. Their first three Champions League campaigns brought wins over the likes of Ajax, Valencia and Liverpool, while Manchester City, Manchester United and now Arsenal have been held to draws.

Domestically, Atalanta have cracked the top four five times in eight years, but a heartbreaking run of three Coppa Italia final defeats meant that Gasperini’s work was not rewarded with a trophy. That was until they stunned the continent by thrashing previously unbeaten and much-fancied Bayer Leverkusen in last season’s Europa League final thanks to an Ademola Lookman hat-trick, and the Nigerian subsequently became the club’s first player to earn a Ballon d’Or nomination.

The older, battle-scarred members of the Atalanta faithful must still be feeling like they are living in the simulation of a wild Football Manager save played out in real-time. But club CEO Luca Percassi is trying to keep his feet on the ground where possible. “The expectations of the fans need to be managed. We always try to remember who we are,” he said last week.

“It is fair to raise your expectations when you achieve certain results.  But for us the objective is to try, despite many difficulties, to maintain a balance and guarantee the future of the club.”

Back in 2019, when they graced Europe’s top competition for the first time, Pep Guardiola famously quipped that facing Atalanta was “like going to the dentist.” Uncomfortable. Five years later, opponents continue to regularly reach for the anaesthetic when the free-scoring Bergamaschi are in the mood.

But what makes their rise from mid-table obscurity to continental conquerors so remarkable is the way Gasperini has continually built, disassembled and reconstructed his squad while keeping it true to the identity that gave Rice such a headache. The 66-year-old Gasperini is one of the elder statesmen of Italian coaching, but his ideas and methods are as fresh as ever.  

Even now, after years of European qualification and cup runs, Atalanta’s wage bill only ranks seventh in Serie A. Gasperini’s success was not the result of a golden generation, nor was it thanks to bags of cash being thrown at any problem. He has proven himself unmatched when it comes to player development, be it overseeing the breakthrough of youngsters, untapping the potential of overlooked talents or getting careers back on track.

Celtic’s visit comes just as the final pieces are falling into place in the latest Atalanta rebuilding project. Although last season’s Europa League success was the high point of the club’s history, the aftermath proved complicated. The futures of Teun Koopmeiners and Lookman were uncertain for months until the Dutch midfielder joined Juventus and the striker eventually stayed put despite being keen on a Paris Saint-Germain move.

Then there were the injury issues. Key centre-back Giorgio Scalvini and top scorer Gianluca Scamacca both suffered ruptured their ACL before a ball had been kicked, all but ending their seasons. A large-scale reshuffle was required. In came 10 new signings, and by the time Atalanta kicked off the new Serie A season, only six players who had started against Leverkusen were in the line-up.

It proved to be a tough start. Although Atalanta won that opener handsomely, thrashing Lecce 4-0, they picked up just seven points from their first six league games as the new-look side failed to impress. “We have 10 new players, they need to settle in,” Gasperini said after Atalanta got back to winning ways by thrashing Genoa 5-1 before the international break.

“The more we play, the easier it will get for them. The most striking example is (Mateo) Retegui, but a lot of the others are also doing well.”

Gasperini was spot on. His team head into the midweek clash with Celtic full of confidence after a three-match winning run against Genoa, Shakhtar Donestk and Venezia with an aggregate score of 10-1. Retegui, the man picked out for praise, has been the standout performer, rocketing to the top of the Serie A scoring charts with eight goals in eight games.

The Italy international, born and brought up in Argentina but eligible for the Azzurri through a Sicilian grandfather, moved to Genoa last summer in the wake of his surprise call-up to the national team while playing for Tigre in March 2023. Atalanta’s decision to sign him came days after Scamacca’s injury, but the 25-year-old has proved to be anything but a knee-jerk buy, hitting a hat-trick against his former club before netting against Belgium and Israel for the Azzurri in the Nations League during the break.

Retegui’s deft finish against Venezia on Sunday continued his hot streak, and Italy coach Luciano Spalletti has been delighted with his improvement in Bergamo. “He’s a great player but also a serious guy,” Spalletti said. “He’s lethal inside the penalty box and he’s learned how to work with the team more. He will become a top player.”

The various Atalanta eras under Gasperini can be characterised by strike partnerships, from the Josip Ilicic/Papu Gomez days to the Duvan Zapata/Luis Muriel years. Last season, Lookman and Scamacca looked set to become the next dynamic duo, but now Retegui has replaced the latter and a third player has joined the fun, former AC Milan attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelaere, completing a skilful, fast and creative trident.  

But Atalanta’s rebuilding isn’t limited to the pitch. When the Celtic fans file into the Gewiss Stadium on Wednesday evening, they will be only the fifth set of away supporters to do so since a five-and-a-half year, €100 million stadium renovation was completed in September. The shiny new ground is a testament to the club’s ambition to ensure their success sticks, and it puts them ahead of many of their domestic rivals as one of just three Serie A clubs to own their own ground along with Udinese and Juventus.

Percassi described the stadium completion as “the realisation of a dream,” and Gasperini has taken a holistic view too. “Success is not just lifting trophies,” he said. “Although (the Europa League final) was a crazy night that represented all the work we have done in the last few years.”  

There are few signs that the dream will end soon. Celtic is just the next challenge ahead as Gasperini continues to build yet another Atalanta side capable of upsetting the European elite