Gian Piero Gasperini says his Atalanta side must be wary of Celtic’s threat despite the Scottish champions’ European woes against top-level opposition.
Brendan Rodgers’ men are looking for a Champions League response away to last season’s Europa League winners after suffering a 7-1 hammering at Borussia Dortmund.
But 66-year-old Italian Gasperini admires Celtic’s approach and will not write off Celtic, who won their opener 5-1 against Slovan Bratislava.
“Against the top teams, if you perhaps get your approach wrong, you can concede a lot of goals,” he said.
“So we will be taking into account the past two matches, but all the other games, such as the ones in the league as well.
“Atalanta would never underestimate an opponent. Celtic, especially in attack, are a very dangerous side, a very fast, rapid team. They’re used to winning and winning well.
“We have to be at our very best, very attentive of their rapidity and their ability to always score lots of goals. Celtic always tend to score and get into scoring positions.”
Atalanta suffered some heavy defeats during their first two Champions League group campaigns in 2019 and 2020, including a 5-0 home loss against Liverpool, but went on to reach the last 16 each time.
And Gasperini’s attacking style firmly paid off last season when they beat Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on their way to winning the Europa League.
The former Inter Milan manager, who is in his ninth season in charge of Atalanta, says “you can never ignore your spirit and style”.
“You have to be balanced,” he added. “In Italy, we say the best teams are the ones that have the best defence. But if you look at the numbers, it’s actually the teams that also score a lot of goals.
“When we played Liverpool at home, we conceded five goals for the first time. Another time, five goals against Manchester City. But we learned from those experiences.
“We then picked up draws and then eventually went on to win those kind of games.”
