In the build-up to Atalanta’s visit to Naples on Saturday evening, Gian Piero Gasperini has warned against comparing La Dea to the other big clubs in Serie A, citing the ‘enormous’ difference in the state of club finances.
The Atalanta coach was critical of clubs that accumulate debts worth hundreds of millions of euros and compared them to his own club, which continue to record profits year after year.
Speaking at his press conference ahead of the game against Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Gasperini said: “We don’t compare ourselves with Napoli and with the other big clubs. If we look at clubs who are almost a billion in debt and then look at ours which posts hundreds of millions in profits, it is clear that the difference is enormous.”
After the publication of accounts at the end of 2022, Atalanta recorded profits for the sixth year in succession.
“For this reason, we must neither look neither up nor down the table, but at who we are and what we have achieved,” Gasperini added.
Atalanta are set to take on Napoli at 17.00 GMT on Saturday.
Speaking about the challenge that lies ahead of them when they face off against the league’s runaway leaders, Gasperini confirmed that: “a very difficult match awaits us, but I’ll never say that we have nothing to lose because we have to play against everyone.
“We face a team that has done something extraordinary and has practically already won the Scudetto.”
“I don’t consider the fact that they might be thinking about Wednesday’s Champions League game, they come off the back of a week off and will only be focused on us. But this will give us further motivation.”
Gasperini will have an almost full squad of players to choose from against the Partenopei on Saturday evening, with just one exception.
“Apart from Teun Koopmeiners, we have everyone at our disposal. Let’s go there in good spirits,” he said.
“If I have one regret, it is dropping points against some of the small and medium-sized clubs. Against the big ones, we never let ourselves down and we did very well in the first game against Napoli too, losing 2-1 with a bit of bad luck.
“They remain a super team, one I think will also go a long way in Europe, but if we repeat the performance of our previous encounter then we will be able to go away satisfied”.