Gian Piero Gasperini reveals Charles De Ketelaere still has hope of being fit in time to face Juventus tomorrow in ‘an important test’ for Atalanta’s status.
It kicks off at the Gewiss Stadium on Sunday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).
This is always a special occasion for Gasperini, who started his coaching career in the Juve youth academy.
“I was there for many years and it was a great learning opportunity, but when it gets to the field, only Atalanta exists for me. This is a big fixture and Bergamo is looking forward to it.
“The attention is all on this game, then Sporting and Lazio. We had a good run of result, Juventus are a great team and I think there are no doubts on that,” said the coach in his press conference.
“They started well, apart from the slip-up against Sassuolo, and we know that they are one of the best sides in the league. This is the toughest match for us in this first part of the season, we are curious to see how we perform in a test of our status.
“Juve always manage to score goals, it’s rare that they don’t, so in order to beat Juventus you need to score more than once. This is a very balanced and competitive league, the games are always on the cusp of uncertainty.”
De Ketelaere has been a revelation so far this season after arriving on loan from Milan with an option to buy, but he is at risk for this clash due to a quadricep issue in his left leg.
“We have to wait for the afternoon training session. I was pessimistic yesterday, today a little more optimistic, but I will only have him in the squad if he is ready to play,” added the coach.
Gianluca Scamacca hopes to be back in training next week and El Bilal Toure won’t be available until 2024.
On the plus side, Teun Koopmeiners is continuing the form he showed last season in a more advanced role.
“Koopmeiners combines technical quality with dynamism, he is able to shoot from any angle and find the target. His dynamism allows him to cover any area of the pitch and he is certainly a great resource for me.”
This is a head-to-head for position, as Atalanta are on 12 points, only one behind Juventus in the Serie A table.