On the eve of Atalanta’s home match against Sturm Graz, coach Gian Piero Gasperini and Davide Zappacosta held the floor in the press conference ahead of the fourth match of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League Group D.

Here’s an excerpt from Gasperini’s statement: “Playing at home must be an asset for us; nonetheless, we will need an excellent performance to win. Our game is picking up; we are improving in terms of consistency and mentality, which gives us hope. We could qualify in advance, but we know we must earn it on the pitch. We would make a huge mistake thinking it would be a piece of cake for us. Sturm made a very good impression on me in the reverse match, as they are a young team filled with excitement, who also put in a top-notch performance from an athletic point of view. We will need to pay the utmost attention”.

As for Davide Zappacosta’s take: “An important game awaits us, even though every match matters for us. We analysed the reverse fixture and assessed our mistakes. Although the victory slipped through our fingers, the resulting anger was gone the day after, as it should be, because playing every third day requires us to go again right away. We know how much we struggled last year to qualify for Europe, hence we need the right approach and will try to achieve satisfactory results”.