Gian Piero Gasperini will not underestimate Atalanta’s achievement in eliminating Sporting CP to reach the Europa League quarter-finals. ‘It is a joy for all of Bergamo.’
La Dea had, just like the first leg, gone behind as Pedro Goncalves combined with Viktor Gyokeres to give Sporting the lead in Bergamo.
However, they had turned it around within 15 minutes of the restart thanks to Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca, securing their place in the Europa League quarter-finals.
The coach had gone into the tunnel after the final whistle, but was called back out by his players to join the celebrations and enjoy the fireworks display over the stadium.
“It is great joy for the team and for all of Bergamo to be in the quarter-finals again. It was tough against a side that is dominating the domestic league in Portugal, so it was a great achievement and we are really satisfied,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had a very good second half, but undoubtedly there was some fatigue late on and perhaps we will learn from this in the future. We absolutely should not have allowed space behind our shoulders, as we no longer had the same fresh legs as earlier.
“It was our sixth game in 18 days, of which four were away matches, facing the likes of Sporting, Milan, Inter and Bologna, all quality teams. I can only be thankful to the players for their efforts. Sead Kolasinac was a wreck at the end.”
Atalanta came back from a goal down to win the match, as Lookman scored within 38 seconds of the restart.
“This team has an incredible ability to react and recover. I am also pleased with the fact I can rotate the squad, but we always have the same motivation. We felt disappointed at half-time, as we were trailing and felt that we could’ve done better, but also confident that we could score after the break.
“Scoring straight away gave us the energy and adrenaline we needed to go on and win.”
Scamacca found the net three times against Sporting CP this season, including the group phase, so should he be leading the line for Italy?
“That is up to Luciano Spalletti. He is improving, that I can say. Scamacca has what it takes to become a champion, I think he has improved from last season when he scored only three goals and barely played. He’s already tripled that tally this term and we hope that he, Charles De Ketelaere and the other forwards can keep evolving, as they can help us to achieve great things.”
Teun Koopmeiners was rested this evening, whereas he had been expected in the starting XI.
“We had a long list of tough games. Koopmeiners played 90 minutes against Juventus at the weekend. These are all top opponents in a row and we got fairly good results, drawing away to Milan, Juventus and Sporting Lisbon, that is not to be sniffed at.
“This match could’ve gone to extra time, so I had to keep players like Koopmeiners ready on the bench, especially as he is one of the penalty specialists.”
This is the fifth time under Gasperini’s tenure that Atalanta have reached the quarter-finals of a European competition, but they could face fellow Italians Milan or Roma in the draw.
“If there are three Italian teams out of eight, then there is the risk of a derby, but I’d rather avoid it. All the teams are of a high level, you cannot exactly choose a weak link in that group.”
ANDIAMOOOOO 🖤💙
LET’S GOOOOO 🖤💙@EuropaLeague | #UEL #GoAtalantaGo pic.twitter.com/ss8ozSOAO7
— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) March 14, 2024