Gian Piero Gasperini was happy with the performance of his Atalanta squad in their hard-fought 3-2 win over Spezia, highlighting their ‘confidence, dangerousness, speed’.
La Dea fell 1-0 down after just 18 minutes following an Emmanuel Gyasi opener but clawed back an equaliser 14 minutes later through Marten de Roon.
Early in the second half, two goals from Davide Zappacosta and Luis Muriel gave Atalanta a comfortable two-goal cushion, but Mehdi Bourabia’s 64th minute strike gave Spezia confidence to push for an equaliser in the final stages of the match.
Speaking to Sky Sports Italia, Gasperini first reacted to Atalanta’s tiring win over Spezia.
“I expected it (a tough match, ed.), because these are good teams, they have good staff, even if they are entangled in the relegation battle, they give a lot more. We suffered in an exaggerated way for what the match was, we put in our best to complicate it.
“It was not easy, I have to be very satisfied with certain performances, a little less so with other moments of the match. We reopened a game from nothing, we played with confidence, dangerousness, speed.
“We complicated the game by conceding goals. We need everyone to be very good, there are some players in fantastic condition, others we need to recover in condition and determination. This is the decisive moment, we can’t be two lines down with anyone.”
He was asked why his side seem to struggle carrying the ball up the pitch.
“It’s a different team that doesn’t have a particular technical talent, so we have to be very good, otherwise we make a lot of mistakes in passing, it’s not a condition problem.
“We have to be at our best to disguise the quality of the passes that on the level of chances, both in disengagement and near the opponent’s area, we could do much better.
“We’re working on it a lot, maybe we’re lacking the maximum condition of everyone, there are five games to go and we’re trying to mask the technical quality, which is not excellent.”
The Atalanta coach spoke about the top four race and if the teams competing in Europe were at a disadvantage.
“We are counting on it, although from experience I say that when you get to this point in the season, the teams in the cups are stronger.
“When you are eliminated, on the other hand, the week is very long, the games are very much like training, especially if you can play not Thursday and Sunday, but Wednesday-Sunday or Thursday-Monday.
“The big risk is injuries, if you lose someone in this period they can miss the end of the season.”
Finally, Gasperini was asked if he expects any of Atalanta’s top four rivals to drop points away from home.
“I would be hypocritical to say otherwise, I hope so. But I am convinced they will all win, while Sunday is a much more important day because of all the direct clashes there are.”