Gian Piero Gasperini explains why he decided to field such an unusual Atalanta line-up in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk. ‘We have a lot of quality and need to be more clinical.’
It kicks off on neutral turf at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen at 17.45 UK time (16.45 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game, RB Leipzig-Juventus and Liverpool-Bologna on the Liveblog.
Both teams played 0-0 draws in Matchday 1 of the new, expanded Champions League, as La Dea held Arsenal at home, while the Ukrainians played Bologna at the Stadio Dall’Ara, seeing an early Georgiy Sudakov penalty saved by Lukasz Skorupski.
Surprisingly, Mateo Retegui is on the bench, so Charles De Ketelaere is the False 9 supported by Lazar Samardzic and Ademola Lookman. Is it to give the Shakhtar side few reference points to defend against?
“It is partly that, but also for Samardzic, as he has undoubted talent and proved it on Saturday against Bologna. It’s right that in these games we can test his capability at this level,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“I think Samardzic, De Ketelaere and Lookman have a lot of quality, we need to use that along with the whole team and put them in a position to perform.”
Gasperini revamps Atalanta
There are numerous injury problems for Atalanta, as Matteo Ruggeri, Marco Brescianini and Isak Hien have joined long-term absentees Rafael Toloi, Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca on the treatment table.
Atalanta have stuttered so far this season with very few wins, but the coach insists they remain on the right track for a much-changed team.
“We’ve always had some good performances. We got the second half wrong against Como, I liked the first half with Bologna too, we always created a lot of opportunities and just need to be more clinical,” continued Gasperini.
They won the Europa League last season, but was this Atalanta side stronger than the one with Papu Gomez and Josip Ilicic that first entered the Champions League and faced Shakhtar Donetsk in 2019-20?
“They are two teams I was very fond of and I cannot make those comparisons. I can say it was extraordinary to win the Europa League against some very strong opponents.
“We do have regrets that we threw away a quarter-final against Leipzig where we could’ve reached the semi-final and final there too.”
Due to the situation in Ukraine, this match is played on neutral turf in Gelsenkirchen and the locals are largely behind Shakhtar Donetsk.
“There is a big Ukrainian community in Germany, so naturally cheering on Shakhtar allows them to think about something joyous like football. The fans tend to be very fair in Europe, they are there to cheer on their own team and not insult the opposition,” concluded Gasperini.