Callum McGregor constantly gets battered over the head about Celtic’s struggles on the road in the Champions League.
But the Hoops skipper reckons his side can take some inspiration from arguably his favourite European jaunt of all time – the night Celts conquered Rome. It might not have been in the top tier competition but Neil Lennon’s men taking down Lazio in the Olympic Stadium in the Europa League in 2019 still rates as one of the club’s best performances on the continent in recent times.
Okay, the Parkhead men don’t exactly have a huge list to pick from. But memories of that famous evening in the Italian capital might come in handy as Celts get set to take on formidable opposition on Italian soil once again. McGregor said: “It was a positive result. It was an amazing night and you still remember the scenes after the game. It was right up there. I think the one thing that game teaches you is that you have to be concentrated at this level and you have got to ride your luck a little bit as well.
“You have got to show quality when you have the ball and the last goal in that game you saw that we did a lot of defensive work in the game. The game changes in that moment with that transition and the speed and the power that we have got.
“We then picked the right pass and got the quality. I think we have to bring all of that together. We keep speaking about the level and the margins are so fine. It is important that you bring the levels with the ball.
“If you give the ball away nine times out of ten you are getting counter-attacked and the boys are chasing the ball for four or five minutes then that can disorganise the group as well. At this level, we need to control the ball as much as we can.
“It was all set up for us as we were doing well in the group and we were doing well in the game before. We carried that in with us and we had a strong squad then and we have a similar type of squad now. We are possibly not as physical but the profile of the team is that we are quick and good with the ball and we have to try and play to our strengths as well.
“If we got a result here? I think it would probably top Lazio, just in terms of the competition. It’s an experienced, strong team, so if you can come here and get a result in the Champions League, it would be a huge positive.”
Celtic are right up against it here in Italy though. Atalanta are every big as strong as the Borussia Dortmund side that stuffed Celts a few weeks ago. In fact, they are arguably even better. But that night in Rome showed anything is possible.
McGregor said: “Of course. That is football and that is why everyone loves football because on any given night you have the opportunity to create something special. That is the type of motivation we need to bring to this game against a high-level opponent.
“They have pace, quality and strength on the ball but we are a good side as well and it is all about belief and confidence and sometimes you just need moments in the game to fall for you and a wee bit of luck as well. We just need that perfect recipe to be as good as we can be. With a little bit of luck we can see where it takes us.”
McGregor is well away Celtic need to show massive improvement from Germany a few weeks ago – especially in possession. He said: “You control the game with the ball and then you can decide when you speed things up and when you slow it down.
“That’s a big part of what you must do when you play away from home in Europe especially. You simply cannot attack every single time you get the ball. And maybe that’s the lesson we should have learned from the Dortmund game.
“Of course, you want to dominate the ball and be a progressive team that plays with speed. But sometimes you just need a breather with the ball.
“You need to make 10,15, 20 passes to get get yourself up the pitch, set yourself up in the block and then you can change the speed of the game at that point. So hopefully that is the learning for us.”
McGregor has done his homework on Atalanta – even if he didn’t know it at the time. The Hoops skipper tuned in for the Europa League Final last season when the Italians dismantled Bundesliga runaway winners Bayer Leverkusen. McGregor said: “I watched the Europa Final live. I was really impressed with how they played that night against a Leverkusen team with really good quality and battered them basically.
“It showed their quality but there were also moments in that game where there were opportunities. They beat one of the best teams in Europe – who were unbeaten all season in Germany, so that shows the challenge. We have to face it.
“We have to show our qualities, have belief and fight, and hopefully we can give them a right good game. When we come off the pitch we want people to say that was a proper Celtic performance.”