Massimo Donati: Celtic should have no fear against Atalanta in Champions League

Ex-Celtic star Massimo Donati says his former club should have no fear when they take on Atalanta in the Champions League.

The Hoops travel to Italy on Wednesday for their third game in the league stage of the revamped competition as they look to get back to winning ways.

Brendan Rodgers’ side opened their campaign with a resounding 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava in matchday one before being brought back down to earth with a crash in a 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Following the heavy defeat in Germany, there has been calls for the manager to play a more pragmatic style away from home against the top teams in a bid to avoid further morale-busting defeats.

However, Donati, who started his career at Atalanta and also played under current manager Gian Gasperini at Palermo, believes the Celtic manager should stick to his principles against the Serie A who he describes as “not invincible”.

The Black and Blues won the Europa League last season and finished fourth in the Italian top-flight ahead of the likes of Roma, Lazio and Napoli.

But Donati, who played 50 games for the Hoops between 2007 and 2009 – winning a top-flight title and helping them reach the last-16 of the Champions League with a dramatic injury-time winner against Shakhtar Donetsk, believes Celtic shouldn’t have any fear.

Speaking to STV Sport the Italian, who is currently managing in Greece, said: “Atalanta play 1 v 1, they don’t care if it is 4-4-2 or 4-3-2-1, they just go man to man and they try to press a lot, so for the opponents, Celtic in this case, it is never easy.

“I played under Gasperini at Palermo and he plays great football, we played some great football under him and when I was on the pitch I knew what I had to do with the ball or without the ball.

“But, I think you should never lose your identity, if Brendan Rodgers thinks he feels good playing a certain way with the team and the mentality then he has to do it.

“The most important thing is to have no fear, to go there and be scared of playing against Atalanta would be a mistake.

“Atalanta is not invincible, they have already lost a couple of games in the league this season as well.

“I would love a draw, both Celtic and Atalanta are very important to me, so I would be happy with a draw.”