James McFadden says Celtic have just answered their Champions League critics, hails two ‘outstanding’ heroes

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Celtic will travel back to Glasgow with a precious Champions League point after their 0-0 draw with Atlanta tonight.

Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic was under intense media scrutiny after their result in Germany against Borussia Dortmund earlier this month.

Many doubted the Celtic manager’s ability to get any sort of result against Atalanta tonight but mostly, Rodgers’ ability to change his tactics and be more pragmatic against the Serie A side was also in question.

And James McFadden believes Rodgers, and Celtic, have just answered their critics with a ‘fantastic’ Champions League result in Bergamo tonight.

James McFadden ‘amazed’ at Celtic’s draw vs Atlanta

Speaking after full-time in Italy, McFadden says that Rodgers answered two big questions his critics asked of him and hailed Rodgers’ team for their resilient performance.

McFadden told BBC Radio Scotland, “I’d be amazed if anybody put 0-0 when on their coupon tonight, anybody, because it just didn’t have the feel that it was going to be that type of game.

“For Celtic to get a draw here is a fantastic result. It really is. And in the manner in which they did it, of course.

“Everybody wants to see great football and free-flowing football, attack and chance after chance. But the big question about Celtic was, can they go and get a result against one of the bigger teams in Europe and have to adapt.

“And they’ve done that.”

Liam Scales and Auston Trusty ‘outstanding’ for Celtic vs Atalanta

Celtic put in a Herculean effort against Atalanta to earn their first-ever Champions League point on Italian soil and McFadden pinpointed Liam Scales and Auston Trusty for their outstanding performance in Bergamo.

“Defensively, Scales and Trusty, they were outstanding,” McFadden continued, “Anything that came in the box, they got in the way of.

“Now, I know that Atalanta had their opportunities, but it was the midfielders that were getting those that were making runs in. And those two didn’t panic.

“They understood they had to be in a position to go and defend, and that’s exactly what they did. The whole team was defensively outstanding.

“And you have to really give Brendan Rodgers and the players credit because they’ve come here against a team that are a very, very good side and they asked a lot of questions of Celtic.

“I don’t think anybody would expect it a 0-0 with that defensive display, particularly as we spoke about Cameron Carter-Vickers being missing as well.

“I thought Trusty and Scales were outstanding”

This result will be a huge boost to Brendan Rodgers and Celtic and will undoubtedly give them great confidence heading into their next two Celtic Park fixtures against RB Leipzig and Young Boys. next month.

With four points from their first three fixtures, Celtic are well on their way to getting out of the league stage of UEFA’s flagship tournament for the first time since 2013.