Celtic silenced the doubters last night, securing a precious point away from home in the Champions League by drawing 0-0 with Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium in Italy.

Brendan Rodgers’ side were under the cosh for large parts of this tie yet stayed resolute and came out of Italy with a clean sheet. They had to rely on the experience of Kasper Schmeichel, who made a number of good saves – especially in the first half – as well as the combined defensive brilliance of centre-back duo Auston Trusty and Liam Scales at the back respectively. 

Despite not carrying much of a threat going forward, Celtic stuck to their task and picked up what could be a very important point concerning qualification to the next round of the competition. Indeed, the club now have four points after three European matches, and are currently 20th in the revamped ‘League Phase’ table.

In partnership with StatsBomb data, analytics and metrics, The Celtic Way brings you a match report unlike any other…

Key stats + race chart

As you would expect, Atalanta bettered their visitors to Bergamo in many of the key stat lines in this game. Indeed, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side dominated the ball, having 66 per cent possession, with Celtic only managing to be in control for 34 per cent of the game. They also had better passing accuracy, at a difference of 85-79 per cent in favour of the Serie A club, and attempted just under 700 passes, compared to Celtic’s 359. Because of this, Rodgers’ side only had four shots in this game – two being on target – compared to Atalanta’s 24 – of which seven troubled Schmeichel.

When observing the race chart, you get the sense that Celtic rode their luck a little bit in this one, as Atalanta dominated the game concerning goalmouth action. Ending up with a cumulative xG of 1.99, Gasperini’s side will be mystified with how they did not manage to break the deadlock in this one – Celtic only managed 0.24 xG of their own – a very low total.

Because of these xG totals, StatsBomb calculated Celtic as having a three per cent chance of winning this game, with the hosts having a massive 83 per cent possibility of picking up all three points. The actual result was given a 14 per cent chance of occurring.

Formation + passing

Celtic reverted back to a 4-3-3 for this one, after switching to a 4-2-3-1 versus Aberdeen (according to StatsBomb). Schmeichel remained in goals, while Trusty and Scales were partnered together again in the middle of defence, supported by Alex Valle and Alistair Johnston on the left and right respectively. Callum McGregor played at the base of midfield, supported by Reo Hatate and Arne Engels ahead of him in the engine room. Adam Idah led the line for Celtic, supported on the wing by both Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda.

The passing network diagram above takes OBV (on-ball value) into account when analysing individuals – the warmer the shade, the higher the OBV. From looking at this graphic, it was Schmeichel who was Celtic’s best player in possession concerning this metric, as shown by the orange circle surrounding his position in goals.

With Maeda just over the halfway line, this picture illustrates how hard Celtic had to work to keep Atalanta at bay – no mean feat. Indeed, McGregor, Hatate and Idah were all positioned in roughly the same area – this was the action zone in the game and all put in the hard yards to keep the home side relatively quiet.

With 0.14 OBV, Schmeichel was Celtic’s best performer in this area, followed by Johnston with 0.06. Scales and Valle had 0.04 OBV respectively, while Idah, Hatate, Maeda and Engels all scored negatively in this metric. 

Celtic’s key passer totals are understandably low, given the defensive game they were in. Still, Valle managed two, while Engels and Kuhn contributed one each on the night.

Shooting

Admittedly, this part of the report will not be a long or extensive one, as Celtic only managed four shots in 94 minutes of play in total. Only two of these shots were on target and the same amount happened in the box - the closest range shot came from Idah, who headered wide.

Statistically concerning xG, the best chance of the game for Celtic fell to substitute Kyogo Furuhashi, whose 74th-minute strike from distance went over the bar – failing to trouble Atalanta’s Marco Carnesecchi in the home goal. In case you were wondering, Valle’s deflected shot scored 0.03 – 0.04 in PSxG – a chance that nearly crept into Carnesecchi’s net if it wasn’t for his vital touch to tip the strike over the bar.

Concerning top shooters on the night, four players contributed one shot each – Kyogo posting the highest xG at 0.13 for his late effort.

Defending

This is the element of the game where Celtic shined against Atalanta – a complete contrast to their showing in Germany versus Borussia Dortmund on Matchday Two. 

Rodgers’ side outpressured Atalanta – a team known for their unique and uncomfortable press – by a rate of 183-148, though the Italian side just managed more regains from pressure actions by 29-23.

Despite his poor performance on the ball, it is time to exonerate Engels a little, as he was magnificent in the press last night. He managed 23 of his own – only Isak Hien managed more overall – with Maeda and Kuhn not far behind on 22. Johnston also contributed 19 of his own pressures in this one. Engels was also joint-top for Celtic in counterpressures, too, with five alongside Maeda, who is no stranger to off-ball work.

Concerning combined tackles and interceptions, Johnston pushed through the pain barrier for a team-high six in these statistics, as the right-back played valiantly even after an early booking in Bergamo. Hatate and Kuhn also showed their defensive grit with five for the same two metrics. Despite being a substitute, Paulo Bernardo managed a combined four – he may be in line for more starts very soon if he keeps this up.

It is no secret that both Scales and Trusty were terrific in this match – particularly the latter. Indeed, the American defender managed a mammoth 13 clearances, while Scales contributed 10 of his own, as well as five aerial duel wins for his side. Valle made seven clearances in this game – he put in the hard yards last night for his loan side. 

Final thoughts

As much as Celtic’s 7-1 hammering in Dortmund felt like a watershed moment in the context of their Champions League campaign, this result feels similar.

A mature showing away from home in Italy has breathed new life into a European journey that could have spiralled out of control, in all honesty. Rodgers must be praised for his tactics in this one, as his tweaks ensured that Celtic were not as open, particularly on the counter.

Many – if not all - would have taken four points from three games in this competition if given the chance. With two massive home games coming up against RB Leipzig and Club Brugge, Rodgers will already be busy plotting out how he can best take on these teams – backed by 60,000 supporters in Celtic Park.

No two ways about it, Celtic are alive in this competition – all thanks to a heroic display at the Gewiss Stadium on Wednesday night...