Nicolas Kuhn is only joking when he says he’ll be taking on Alistair Johnston’s defensive duties after his breathless rear-guard action in Bergamo.
But the Celtic winger reckons if his side are to have the last laugh in the Champions League, they need to find a way to do more than simply surviving against the best. Brendan Rodgers’ went from one extreme to the other against Atalanta, with the wide-open display that cost them a mauling in Dortmund replaced by a stubborn show of resistance as they held out for a vital point in Italy
But Kuhn says the next step is to find a way to compete with sides when they have the ball. He said: “It was a great point for us. It was much different to what we’re used to. We had to defend really deep and we’ve had a bit of fun already between me with Ali, joking that I’m the new right-back! There was a lot of defensive work but I think we did well. After Dortmund we had to do much better and we showed we learned the lesson. I think it was just a good game for us.
“The coach also said it after the game. The only thing we have to learn now is to be calm with the ball and maybe create more chances. I think the possibility was there. Hopefully in the next game we will do better..”
Kuhn’s been impressive form this term, with six goals and eight assists already. But he had to dig in and help protect Johnston from the threat posed by Ademola Lookman after he picked up an early booking just eight minutes in against the Italians.
“Ali is an experienced player,” he said. “I think he knows when to go and when not, so from the beginning it was clear that, especially Daizen Maeda and I, we had to help out, because they overloaded the side with three, sometimes four players.
“We had to be concentrated the whole game. I think that’s what we did until the end. Everyone was focused and defended with everything we’d got so at the end for me it’s a deserved point.”
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