Atalanta doesn’t break through and Celtic snatches a 0-0 draw

On the third day of the Champions League, Atalanta did not go beyond a bitter draw at home with Celtic. At the Gewiss Stadium it ended 0-0 despite several excellent opportunities created by the Nerazzurri, especially in the first half, including the crossbar hit by Pasalic. After the good away win against Shakhtar, another draw arrives for Gasperini’s men, tonight less cynical and ruthless than usual: the Dea thus rises to 5 points, while the Scots, fresh from the seven goals conceded by Dortmund, reach 4.

The match is very intense from the first minutes and it is the Bergamo players who lead the game, who in the first half create several opportunities to take the lead: the most sensational one in the 18th minute with Pasalic hitting the crossbar with his head from a few steps away from Zappacosta’s cross. The Nerazzurri midfielder tries again later, this time with his foot, but Schmeichel is attentive and blocks it, then Zappacosta also misses a great chance by raising his left foot too much on Retegui’s low cross. At the end of the first half, however, it was the Italian-Argentine who came close to taking the lead, finding the reflex of the visiting goalkeeper on a header from a corner situation.

Celtic remained very closed even at the start of the second half, but in the 50th minute he tries to become dangerous on the restart with a shot from Valle deflected by Djimsiti and lifted for a corner by an attentive Carnesecchi. Despite the little scare Atalanta continues to dominate the match in terms of the game, despite creating something less than the first half of the game. Gasperini tries to bring in fresh forces to give the team more push, but the Nerazzurri practically never manage to worry Schmeichel. The last real shout was a header by Hien following a cross by Ruggeri, which however ended high over the crossbar.