Atalanta vs Celtic: team news, referee details, kickoff time, and where to watch

Celtic are in Bergamo this evening to face Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League Matchday Three. The Scottish Champions face the Europa League Winners, as Brendan Rodgers’ side looks to rebound from their defeat to Borussia Dortmund with a win over the Serie A side.

Celtic dropped their first points of the domestic season with a draw against title contenders Aberdeen, despite expanding their lead over city rivals Rangers, who lost on Sunday.

Team News

Celtic will need to be at their defensive best to keep the Italians at bay, especially after their brand of football propelled them to Europa League victory in Dublin earlier this year. Brendan will need to put together his team without Cameron Carter-Vickers, who did not travel to Italy. The USA Internationalist has a foot problem, and it appears that the manager has decided not to rush the player back from injury, especially given the volume of upcoming games.

Kasper Schmeichel will start in goal. The Dane will be disappointed with some of the goals that he conceded in Dortmund and be eager to

In defence, the backline is expected to remain unchanged from Saturday, with Auston Trusty and Liam Scales starting as central defenders and Alex Valle and Alistair Johnston at fullback.

Callum McGregor, Arne Engels, and Reo Hatate are expected to start in midfield again. It will be interesting to see if the manager starts Engels or Hatate in a slightly deeper role to assist the Celtic captain, especially given Atalanta’s strong counter-attacking capabilities.

In attack, Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kühn will start wide. There have been suggestions that Adam Idah’s physicality could be used against the Italians, but it is likely that the manager will stick with Kyogo. The frontman missed a couple of chances over the weekend and will be eager to return to his clinical best this evening.

The predicted XI is Schmeichel; Valle, Scales, Trusty, Johnston; McGregor, Engels, Hatate; Maeda, Kyogo, Kühn.

Referee Details

UEFA has appointed Bosnian referee Irfan Peljto to officiate the game. Senad Ibrišimbegović and Davor Beljo will assist the whistler, while Antoni Bandić will serve as the Fourth Official. Meanwhile, German official Sören Storks is on VAR, assisted by Christian Dingert. Peljto is well-known among Celtic fans for sending two players off in the club’s UCL opener against Feyenoord last season.

Kick-Off Time

The game begins in the early evening at 5:45pm (Celtic Park Time). This could surprise UCL fans who are accustomed to games starting at 8 p.m.

Where To Watch

The game will be shown on TNT Sport 4 and Discovery+, with coverage beginning at 5pm.

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