Why Ederson almost missed Atalanta-Celtic over a dentist appointment | OneFootball

Ederson reveals why a visit to the dentist almost ruled him out of today’s Champions League clash between Atalanta and Celtic. ‘I think I can hang on until our next free day.’

It kicks off at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo at 17.45 UK time (16.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Young Boys-Inter on the Liveblog.

There are quite a few problems for La Dea going into this clash, as they are missing Rafael Toloi, Odilon Kossounou, Marco Brescianini, Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca, but at least Sead Kolasinac has been passed fit to start.

It seems that Ederson was also a major doubt suffering from toothache, but he assured that he is ready to go.

“I am feeling a bit better now, the dentist gave me something to help. I need to get my wisdom tooth taken out, but for now I’m trying to delay that as much as possible, because I don’t want to miss games,” Ederson told Sky Sport Italia.

“I think that I can hang on until the next free day we have, although I’m not sure when that will be.”

Ederson finding his goal-scoring boots

Ederson holds up the trophy as Atalanta’s players celebrate after the UEFA Europa League final football match between Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen at the Dublin Arena stadium, in Dublin, on May 22, 2024. Atalanta won the game 3-0. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Brazilian midfielder is known for his rugged battling in midfield, able to win the ball back repeatedly, but against Genoa in Serie A he scored a rare scorcher too. Had Gian Piero Gasperini been urging him to take that step?

“He has been telling me to shoot for a while and he was right. I also joked with his staff and said I was learning other things first, but if I try to shoot as well then I might forget all the other work that I do and only try to go for goal!”

Celtic have had mixed results in the Champions League so far this season, beating Slovan Bratislava 5-1 in Glasgow, but also losing 7-1 away to Borussia Dortmund.

“There are some statistics that show Celtic are different at home and away, but it’s the Champions League, so it’s always tough and you have to get points no matter where you play. We’ll certainly try to win this evening.”

It is raining very heavily in Bergamo this evening, but Ederson confirmed himself a gentleman by holding the umbrella for the Sky Sport Italia reporter during the interview.