Gian Piero Gasperini hails Atalanta for ‘the best performance of the season’ to beat Lazio 2-0 in Rome and fly into joint third place, explaining how La Dea have developed and admitting Rasmus Hojlund is ‘very similar’ to Erling Haaland.
La Dea were beaten 2-0 at home back in October and wanted revenge, which they got with exactly the same scoreline at the Stadio Olimpico.
Davide Zappacosta marked his return from a calf injury with a fantastic curler into the far top corner, then Rasmus Hojlund showed a burst of pace to reach the Ademola Lookman roll across the six-yard box.
They had 23 shots on goal, 10 of them on target, and could easily have scored more.
“It was probably our best performance of the season, especially considering the value of the opponent. It was one of those games that can give us a lot of confidence, playing against a Lazio side that beat us earlier this season after what was our worst performance of the campaign,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“I got the feeling from the touchline that it was genuinely a very entertaining game and that is rare, but it is also because Lazio were playing good football and the first half was far more balanced.”
This result puts Atalanta in joint third place with Roma and Milan on 41 points, leaping ahead of Lazio, who are left behind on 39.
“We never held back from the Champions League, we just said we’ll keep giving our all and if we are still there 10 rounds from the end, then we’ll see. Getting back into the Champions League would be extraordinary, but regardless I still think what we are doing this season is extraordinary.”
It was one goal for Hojlund, but he could’ve had another when sprinting from his own penalty area to force a save from Ivan Provedel one-on-one, prompting comparisons with Erling Braut Haaland of Manchester City.
“Hojlund has this spirit, energy, intensity, but also technical quality that is just remarkable. He still has so much margin for improvement, too. He has very similar characteristics to Haaland, not just his face. He is so quick, he’s under 11 seconds over 100m and that’s not even trying very hard. Considering his height, he has a low centre of gravity and can move his legs very fast. I am convinced he’ll have a great career, he just gets stronger every day.”
This is a very new type of Atalanta under Gasperini, perhaps with less creativity than the last few years, but with more solidity, power and pace.
“That is true, we are a team who changed a great deal with different characteristics. Papu Gomez and Josip Ilicic had extraordinary technical quality, so when you gave them the ball, they rarely lost it.
“Now we are more of a chorus than focusing on soloists, but also have some pace that we didn’t really have before. We are trying to integrate those elements to make it a balanced and competitive team.”
Ederson was used behind the strikers against Sassuolo, but this evening was deeper in midfield and Teun Koopmeiners took that role instead.
“As the season wore on, Ederson had his best games in midfield. He and Koopmeiners can exchange places, which can be a real strength having them alternate and give the opposition fewer reference points.”
Pep Guardiola famously said that facing Atalanta was like going to the dentist, a phrase used again by Maurizio Sarri before this match.
“Being a dentist in the Champions League against Manchester City or the other great teams we faced is already praise, because to cause them problems is something to be proud of.
“Perhaps in Serie A, with all due respect for dentists, we are more like surgeons, as we’ve been challenging for the top spots for several years.”