Auston Trusty: Celtic showed the world what team they are with Atalanta draw

Celtic defender Auston Trusty felt they had shown the world their true selves after bouncing back from a heavy defeat in Germany to hold Atalanta to a goalless draw in Italy.

Three weeks after conceding seven goals against Borussia Dortmund, Celtic kept their first clean sheet in the Champions League proper for seven years.

“Dortmund was just one of those games,” Trusty said.

“The beauty of football is that there’s always another game, you can react and show the world what team you really are.

“Sometimes you just have those nights, and obviously that’s a night we’d never want to see again or feel again. That put a pit in our stomachs, so we wanted to come out here and show the world what we can do and what kind of team we really are.”

The former Sheffield United defender was in his element as Celtic withstood some sustained periods of pressure, getting his head to a number of crosses.

“If they want to cross the ball, then I love heading the ball and being in a position to win tackles and also make any defensive play I can,” he said.

“So however they want to play, I adjust to it and I do my thing.

“Playing last year in the Premier League, I saw it as the best league in the entire world.

“So I’m used to these situations and I think I can bring a lot of expertise to this squad and to this organisation where I can be a leader in the team, be a leader on the pitch and off the pitch.”

The Celtic fans celebrated a rare point on the road in Europe after the game and Trusty lapped up the atmosphere, hanging back after his team-mates headed for the tunnel.

“My friends came from England and a couple from the US for this game,” the United States international said.

“So they travelled many, many hours. Two of them from Dallas, Texas, for this game.

“So I’ve got to show support to them and love, obviously to my friends, who made that effort but also the fans there too.

“It’s kind of crazy with all the screaming fans, but luckily I did manage to make them out.”

Celtic now have four points from three matches ahead of a Parkhead double-header against RB Leipzig and Club Brugge.

“It gives us a lot of confidence to go into these next games, those domestic games, but also these next Champions League games at home,” Trusty said.

“Coming back to 60,000 fans plus, it’s going to be awesome.

“We’re going into the two home games becoming really confident and able to do our thing, so I’m looking forward to it.”