Berat Djimsiti joked he can ‘play as a striker in the next game’ after the defender’s Atalanta brace to beat Olympiacos 2-1 in the first leg of the Europa League play-off.
They were caught out by an early Tiquinho Soares shot into the far bottom corner, but that was one of the only real attempts the Greek side had.
Europa League | Atalanta 2-1 Olympiacos: Djimsiti double avoids Greek tragedy
It was one-way traffic, especially after the restart, with Djimsiti turning in two corners in the space of 120 seconds, so what happened during that break to change their approach?
“We talked at half-time, took these 15 minutes to discuss what was going wrong, saying we had to wake up and win here at long last. It was the right spirit and we turned it around,” Djimsiti told Sky Sport Italia.
Atalanta have a shortage of strikers, as Duvan Zapata is out for several months and Luis Muriel limped off at half-time with a flexor issue.
“Maybe next game, I can play as a striker! Hopefully after Duvan’s injury, there’s nothing serious for Muriel. They are our forwards and we need them. We can only hope for the best.
“We were really missing a victory, especially at home. I hadn’t scored in a long time either, so I am happy.”
Djimsiti had scored just four goals in 130 previous games in the Atalanta jersey, but got two in the space of two minutes this evening.
Atalanta defenders make runs like strikers all the time.