Gian Piero Gasperini admits Atalanta ‘will be ready’ for a Champions League push and explains the moment their season turned around. ‘We didn’t have that fire before.’
La Dea didn’t have the goalfest that we had perhaps been accustomed to recently, but still comfortably swept Sampdoria aside 2-0.
Joakim Maehle nodded in the opener after an initial attempt came off the upright, then Ademola Lookman nutmegged Nicola Murru before selling Bram Nuytinck a dummy and smashing in the angled drive.
“This is a bit of a strange season, as until mid-November games were played without really looking at the table, as we felt the campaign would really begin after Christmas,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“Once we did look at the table, we saw the position really wasn’t that bad, so we put in a bit more determination and you can see there is more focus and concentration from the team now.
“These games seem easy on paper, but they are difficult, because Sampdoria defend very well and closed off all the spaces. We also ran a big risk early on, so we had to play as a team, with quality and focus.
“Sampdoria didn’t give up to the very end and kept it open until the 90th minute.”
Gasperini has tried to dampen down enthusiasm around Atalanta’s potential Champions League push and explained his joke in the pre-match press conference.
“Someone asked me what the maximum result would be for Atalanta and I said it’s certainly not the Scudetto, because that’s just mathematics! I know the Champions League questions have been going all season, but as always we’ll see where we are with 10 rounds to go and if we need to have the final surge, we’ll be ready.”
They are on stunning form at the moment, amassing four wins and two draws in their last six competitive matches, scoring 22 goals and conceding 10.
Gasperini was asked if his half-time team talk had changed the season when Atalanta were 2-0 down to Spezia on January 4 and clawed it back to 2-2 deep into stoppages.
“The positive was our desire to get it back on track. It was a turning point in the sense that before we didn’t have that fire in us to the final minutes, we seemed almost resigned to the result. That changed in La Spezia. Maybe our second half was actually worse than the first and we were fortunate to get it back, but that gave us confidence going forward.
“I also think the game with Juventus was very important, as we were in a losing situation there too, and Inter coming up will be interesting. It’s good to test ourselves against the best and see how competitive we can be.”
Next up on Tuesday evening there is the Coppa Italia quarter-final against Inter at San Siro, followed by Saturday’s Serie A match with Sassuolo.