Celtic were forced to defend until the death for a Champions League point in Lombardy.
But Brendan Rodgers won’t be surprised if his brave Bergamo warriors are now forced to push for 90 minutes and more to get a win in Lanarkshire. The Hoops had to put on a show of resilience to earn a deserved draw against free-scoring Serie A cracks Atalanta on Wednesday night.
It was a test of both the Parkhead side’s endurance and concentration levels as Italy’s most potent attacking force were held at bay through 94 gruelling minutes. Now as the champions turn their focus back to domestic matters, Rodgers knows it will be down to his side to force the issue this time as they shape up against Stuart Kettlewell’s Motherwell on Sunday. Twice last season they had to go right to the wire to edge out the Steelmen at Fir Park.
Adam Idah and Luis Palma were the last action heroes back in February as they struck stoppage time goals to clinch a 3-1 win. It was a similar story in September when Matt O’Riley was also required to pounce late after Blair Spittal had cancelled out Palma’s 87th-minute opener.
Those weren’t new experiences for Rodgers right enough, with the Northern Irishman also left sweating on a couple of occasions before his team could celebrate during his first stint as Celtic boss. Rodgers would prefer his team get things done a little quicker this time round – then again, there’s no better thrill than a last-minute winner.
“If you can only predict and forecast, it would be great,” grinned the Celtic gaffer. “Everyone would love to be comfortable in the game, but sometimes it’s not like that. So, the team will give everything to get the result. But what hopefully that tells you is that this is a team with perseverance and persistence and can keep going.
“So, ultimately, you have to do what it takes to get the result. And we always have that mentality that we can. Are these moments satisfying for coaches? Yes, especially some of those games last season.
“I think back to some of the games when we were searching for that late win. Matt scored a great goal at the back post.
“The ball could have been easily just pumped forward and into the mix, but we kept that calmness and then Greg Taylor made a great cross in the half-space and we got the winner.
“It was everything that we would want. Scoring a late win away from home is always really nice and it’s great for the supporters. But, of course, whichever way it comes, you just want to win.”
Celtic certainly showed in midweek they were capable of playing in a more restrained manner than many thought they were capable of after their Dortmund dismantling. Rodgers had insisted his team would learn from that brutal experience at the hands of last year’s Champions League runners-up.
There were plenty of doubters openly scoffing at that suggestion, insisting they’d heard all that before in the wake of previous hammerings from the continental elite. But this time, the message stuck and Celtic dug in for an impressive result against Gian Piero Gasperini’s Europa League winners.
It’s a substantial leap forward for a team that have too often been swatted aside away from home in Uefa’s top tournament. Now Rodgers is looking to take the next step forward. “Yes, it’s about having that wee bit of composure at the level as well,” he said. “These are games where you have to have that belief to play as well.
“A couple of wee moments going into that last period where it looked like it could be the absolute perfect performance. You defend it well and on counter-attack you get your goals.”
Rodgers was just happy the travelling Parkhead faithful finally got to enjoy a result on the road having endured so many difficult journeys abroad. He said: “I was so happy for the supporters because I’m sure after the Dortmund game there’s a wee bit of trepidation. You’re playing against a top team who across Europe were on the top goalscorers and all the top leagues.
“But they got a real pride in their team. The players themselves and also now the supporters know that this team can now do that. There is a graft there, there is a heart, there is a desire.
“The supporters, as much as the football is great and intensity and everything and blah, blah, blah, they also need to know that your team can have a bit of dig, a bit of grit and determination. I think we saw that the other night against a top team.
“We’re a team that domestically, we’ll want to take the game by the scruff of the neck and impose our way of working in the game. But you know when you come up against superior teams away from home that you’re going to have to be in difficult situations where you’re not going to have the run of the game. And in that there, you need a high level of concentration.
“That was probably the biggest part that really pleased me, that concentration level right to the very end. We showed that we could defend really, really well and be compact and tight. And right to the end, right to the 94th minute.
“To keep a clean sheet and play how we did out there, not only does it galvanise the players and their confidence when those moments come, because they’ll come again, especially in the Champions League. It will happen in the league sometimes as well, but certainly in the Champions League you’re going to have to go through spells like that. We now know that we can do that.”
Brendan Rodgers’ Fir Park late shows
Feb 2024 – Motherwell 1 Celtic 3 (Idah 51, 90; Palma 90)
Sept 2024 – Motherwell 1 Celtic 2 (Palma 87, O’Riley 90)
Nov 2017 – Motherwell 1 Celtic 1 (Sinclair pen 88)
Dec 2016 – Motherwell 3 Celtic 4 (McGregor 48, Roberts 70, Armstrong 72, Rogic 90)