Despite his man of the match performance in Atalanta’s spectacular 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday night, Gianluca Scamacca was not prepared to get too carried away as his sights are already set on the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final in Bergamo next week.
The former West Ham striker, who struck twice and created the opportunity for Atalanta’s third, acknowledged the fact that most had Liverpool down as clear favourites, but insists that Gian Piero Gasperini’s squad always had belief in themselves.
“It’s a fantastic night, everyone thought we were doomed but we believed in ourselves from the start, we’re happy, but there’s still the return leg,” he said to Sky after full-time on Merseyside.
“We tried to take it as calmly as possible, stepping out onto the pitch with courage. These sorts of feats happen as a team, not as individuals, if it hadn’t been for my teammates, I wouldn’t have got those chances.”
Scamacca, who now has five goals in his last five matches in all competitions, was not selected by Luciano Spalletti for the most recent Italy national team squad, despite an apparent shortage of options at centre-forward.
When asked if he had any feelings of revenge after his first class display against Liverpopol, he replied: “These are goals for Atalanta, the main objective is to help the team win matches and progress.
“It’s a journey that began in August, there were some tough times, but when you believe in something, you get rewarded in the end. This evening, we were rewarded both as a team and as individuals.”
Reporters also suggested that Scamacca had not quite realised the magnitude of what he managed to do on the Anfield pitch.
Asked if he had truly come to terms with his performance, he replied: “There is another game to play, so I don’t like to get too enthusiastic about these sorts of things, we’ll see later on.”
Despite his non-selection for the latest set of international fixtures, Scamacca has no hard feelings towards the national team.
“I think that not being called up was right, there is no feeling of revenge because this is a process that started six or seven months ago. Now, we are reaping the rewards. It’s a starting point for me and for us.”