Brendan Rodgers receives ringing endorsement over Celtic methods as Atalanta genius tells cynics it's the only way

Italian master Gian Piero Gasperini reckons Brendan Rodgers is right to stick to his attacking guns.

The Atalanta boss has ripped up the famous old Serie A defensive approach to turn his side into the most attacking team in Italy. Gasperini is an admirer of the Rodgers philosophy as well – and he doesn’t believe the Hoops gaffer will rip up his strategy on the back of the Borussia Dortmund bashing for tomorrow/tonight’s Champions League clash. The wily old coach is convinced Celtic will have learned from their Germany gubbing – just like his men did from thumping from Premier League big guns like Liverpool and Man City.

But the 66 -year-old doesn’t believe Rodgers should bin his beliefs. The Europa League winner said: “Rodgers is a very attacking coach. If you're a team that wins a lot, you have to attack. They have to be balanced. In Italy, we say the best teams are the ones that have the best defence. But if I look at the numbers, it's actually the teams that also score a lot of goals. If you want to win, it's obvious you have to score. He coaches a top team, the leading side in Scotland.

“As for the Champions League, it's obvious, as I've said before, there's a lot of top teams. And it's the characteristic of each coach, each team. When we played Liverpool at home, we conceded five goals for the first time. Another time, five goals against Manchester City. But we learned from those experiences. We then picked up draws and then eventually went on to win those kinds of games.

“You can never turn down and ignore your spirit, your style. You have to be true to that. There's phases in which you grow as a result of that. There is no obvious solution. You have to win. The Champions League is obviously at times exclusive to