There should be no embarrassment whatsoever attached to the scale of Celtic celebration which greeted confirmation of a draw in northern Italy. That Atalanta had run out of ideas long before the end of this intriguing encounter owed everything to a stirring Celtic response to events in Dortmund at the start of October.
On that chastening night in Germany, Brendan Rodgers watched his players trounced 7-1. The fallout – understandably to everyone apart from the Celtic manager himself – was epic. Rodgers insisted he and his team were “beat over the head with a stick” after last season’s beaten finalists ran riot. There is no requirement for metaphorical weaponry this week. Rodgers has shot back in the best manner possible.
