Gian Piero Gasperini believes Atalanta earned their historic victory away to Liverpool because they ‘expressed our concepts of football very well.’
It was a change of tactics, dropping Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel to use Josip Ilicic and Papu Gomez as forwards in a mobile 3-5-2.
La Dea are only the second Italian side to win at Anfield in the Champions League after Fiorentina in December 2009, and the fifth Italians to win here in all competition.
Gian Piero Gasperini believes Atalanta earned their historic victory away to Liverpool because they ‘expressed our concepts of football very well.’
It was a change of tactics, dropping Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel to use Josip Ilicic and Papu Gomez as forwards in a mobile 3-5-2.
La Dea are only the second Italian side to win at Anfield in the Champions League after Fiorentina in December 2009, and the fifth Italians to win here in all competition.
“I was at Genoa for many years, so they told me about that famous win here in 1992,” Gasp told Sky Sport Italia.
The others were Roma in 2001, Fiorentina in 2009 and Udinese in 2012.
Liverpool did not have a single shot on target, while Atalanta threatened more goals after Ilicic and Robin Gosens.
“Undoubtedly, it is very satisfying to win here against a side of such quality, as we as it being a fundamental result for our Champions League campaign.
“We put in an excellent performance and expressed our concepts of football very well. Liverpool threw on their big stars when in trouble, but we immediately scored a second goal.”
It’s a remarkable turnaround considering Liverpool won 5-0 in Bergamo.
“We played much better than the first game in Bergamo, as we moved the ball better, were technically more precise and didn’t make those mistakes again.”
Liverpool are top of the Champions League group now with nine points, followed by Atalanta and Ajax on seven.
“I am pleased for Ilicic, he needs to rediscover his confidence and this is a very important goal for him,” added Gasperini in his press conference.
“This is a stadium that everyone sees as the history of football. Liverpool were unbeaten here in 64 games, so perhaps this is our most prestigious ever victory. It should give us a boost and more confidence going forward, because we played with real quality.
“Atalanta need to play without stress or external pressure. We must rediscover the joy of just being in this competition. The only regret is that we’re not getting to experience it along with our fans.”