Gian Piero Gasperini felt Atalanta deserved to win until the late Juventus comeback, but made an appeal for everyone. “Nobody can agree on what is handball and what isn’t.”
La Dea had dominated for over an hour, missing a penalty through Musa Barrow and taking the lead with Robin Gosens, but Gonzalo Higuain’s brace and a Paulo Dybala solo effort turned it around for a 3-1 away result.
Gian Piero Gasperini felt Atalanta deserved to win until the late Juventus comeback, but made an appeal for everyone. “Nobody can agree on what is handball and what isn’t.”
La Dea had dominated for over an hour, missing a penalty through Musa Barrow and taking the lead with Robin Gosens, but Gonzalo Higuain’s brace and a Paulo Dybala solo effort turned it around for a 3-1 away result.
“Atalanta were excellent until the chaotic and unlucky Juventus equaliser, so we absolutely deserved to win until that point,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“We could not count on certain players, but those who did play did a great job. Unfortunately, Juve gained morale after the equaliser, they scored two good goals late on and we had no more time to react.
“We allowed Juve very little until then, we created numerous scoring opportunities and were completely in control after taking the lead. The equaliser was the turning point, it was a clearance that took a ricochet and Higuain did well to react quicker than anyone.
“When Juve have chances, they are much more efficient in their finishing than we are, that’s down to their quality. I thought it was perhaps Atalanta’s best performance of the season, especially considering the value of the opposition.”
There were several contentious decisions, such as a VAR on-field review for Emre Can handball that did not lead to a penalty, as it was deflected off his shin and hit his arm, which was in front of his face.
“I saw a few replays, but there is so much confusion nowadays on handball. For example, the penalty we were awarded was the kind of challenge I’d have been furious to see given against me.
“The confusion is there, it continues to be confusing, there are completely different interpretations between coaches, referees, players, fans and we need some clarity on what these rules are.
“I am convinced there will always be errors, even with VAR. The problem here is that even when viewing it again, we still can’t seem to agree on what is handball and what isn’t.
“There cannot be such vastly contradictory unbiased opinions, otherwise handball becomes a lottery and that’s precisely what we are meant to avoid.”