Celtic’s Atalanta Draw Restores Pride After Dortmund Humbling, Says Captain

Celtic captain Callum McGregor has opened up about the team’s journey through the Champions League, especially in light of their draw against Atalanta in Bergamo.

After enduring a punishing 7-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund, McGregor highlighted the importance of rebounding with pride and resilience, viewing the Atalanta match not only as a point gained but as a vital step toward restoring the team’s self-respect and reaffirming their identity on the European stage.

Reflecting on the aftermath of the Dortmund defeat, McGregor acknowledged how deeply the result affected both the players and the club. He praised his teaMMAtes for responding with a disciplined defensive display against Atalanta, the reigning Europa League champions, and stressed that this performance was not aimed at silencing critics but at meeting the standards they hold themselves to.

McGregor emphasised that the Atalanta performance was particularly crucial for the players’ own morale, recognising that while outside criticism is part of the game, their focus remains on performing to their best.

As quoted by RecordSport, McGregor said: “When you represent such a big club like this and you have a result like that, it hurts and it stays with you and all these things where you feel pride to try to put it right for yourself and your teammates and then the supporters as well. “

We came out the back of that Game and we never showed ourselves in a good light but it was important against Atalanta that we showed we don’t want to talk, we want to be a team that does the talking on the pitch. It was hugely important, I think. Probably more for ourselves, to be honest. People say what they want to write and we don’t really have a lot of control over that other than the performances that we put in.

“If you don’t perform well, people are going to criticise you, that’s just the nature of the Business. But for us we came off the Game against Dortmund and we just never did ourselves justice. The boys were low and they were low because they didn’t perform to the level that we know we can.

“It can be a difficult one, on the back of that one. Maybe you think you’ve got it out of your system and the game starts and maybe you think, right hold on we’re in a game again. But I actually thought the boys dealt with that really really well, showed big character, big belief, physicality as well which is something that’s really important at this level.”

The mood seems to have changed surrounding Celtic since the draw in Italy. There was a lot of negativity surrounding the place, but now fans are talking about potentially qualifying for the knockouts in the next two Games.