Atalanta, founded in 1907, have long been one of Italy’s more awkward established names: not a super-club, but rarely a soft touch. They play at The New Balance Arena and sit seventh in Serie A in the 2026-27 season, with a squad valued at around £342.5m by Transfermarkt.
The squad is sizeable at 38 players, with an average age of 25, and the scoring burden is fairly well spread. Gianluca Scamacca leads with 14 goals, followed by Nikola Krstović on 11 and Mario Pasalic on 10, while Lazar Samardzic and Charles De Ketelaere have also contributed.
Their league form has been uneven rather than alarming: a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina, a 0-1 home defeat to Bologna, and a 3-2 win away to AC Milan all sit in the recent run. At home they are averaging 1.3 goals scored and 0.8 conceded per match; away, 1.4 scored and 1.1 conceded. They have struck first inside 20 minutes in five of 16 league matches, enough to suggest Celtic would need to start properly rather than grow into it at leisure.
Atalanta also featured in the Conference League qualifying play-off round. For Celtic supporters, they register as a technically serious Italian opponent: organised, well-resourced, and currently competitive without being dominant in Serie A.
