Atalanta expert predicts Celtic clobbering from Serie A magic man as Pep's bizarre dentist analogy acts as warning

Italy’s top football writer has warned Celtic are in for another bruising Champions League beating against the ‘magician’ of a coach he rates as the best boss in Serie A.

Veteran Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Fabio Licari believes Brendan Rodgers and his players are in for another traumatic experience when they face rampant Europa League winners Atalanta in Bergamo - just three weeks after a seven goal clobbering in Dortmund.

Speaking exclusively to Record Sport’s trailblazing online show, Hotline Live, Licari predicts more pain is awaiting Scotland’s champions this evening at the Gewiss Stadium against Gian Piero Gasperini’s side. Licari - who has worked for Italy’s iconic sports paper for 35 years - said: “He is a magician. I have a personal admiration for Gasperini.

“Maybe sometimes he asks too much from his players so what happens? Sometimes Atalanta show a strange movement like a parabola. They can be fantastic for two or three matches and then they are bad because the players need to recover and then start again. In this moment it’s not good for Celtic to meet Atalanta because they were fantastic in their last match.

“Pep Guardiola once said that playing against Atalanta is like going to the dentist. The reason for that is that Manchester City suffered against Atalanta - it was very, very painful. Gasperini still jokes about this quote but it’s the truth.

"With Atalanta versus Celtic I think Atalanta can win maybe 2-0 or 3-1. Atalanta always score and I saw Celtic were a very unbalanced team against Borussia Dortmund. They were fantastic in their first match against Slovan Bratislava but it was desperation in the second match. And Atalanta is more close to Borussia than to Bratislava.”

Licari rates 66-year-old