Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is backing his team to use their “strong spirit and togetherness” against Atalanta as they aim to respond to the “emotionally gutting” Champions League night they experienced in Dortmund.
After kicking off their European campaign with a 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava, Rodgers’ side were humiliated in a 7-1 defeat to Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund earlier this month.
Rodgers conceded that his “very, very inexperienced” Champions League squad are playing at “a level where you can get punished”.
But the Celtic boss feels Wednesday’s encounter with last season’s Europa League winners is an opportunity for his players to be reminded that they belong in the competition.
“We’re competing at the very highest level, so your spirit can be affected after games like [Dortmund],” Rodgers said.
“As a football player, you don’t want to be sat in a changing room and feeling that again. That’s something the players know themselves.
“It’s an emotionally gutted feeling after a result like that. But this is a team whose spirit and togetherness is so strong. For us, it’s about that tactical discipline, having that togetherness and having that belief in your quality.
“These are belief games. You have to go into these and really believe you can get the result. It might not always go your way, but you certainly have to go in with that belief.
“This is the long game here in Europe in terms of what we’re trying to achieve. Not just this season, but going forward. That was one of the big reasons I came back, to show we can make that progress.”
Rodgers also revealed he came close to bringing Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman to Celtic during his first spell.
The 27-year-old, who went on to play under Rodgers at Leicester, scored a hat-trick in the Serie A side’s Europa League final win over Bayer Leverkusen last season.
“I met him in a hotel in London and we were looking to convince him to come,” the Celtic boss added.
“[It was] close in the fact he was really excited by the project. He was at Charlton at the time, he wanted to join a big club.
“Sadly, we just couldn’t get to the levels Charlton wanted for him. But the club did everything they possibly could at that time.”
