Atalanta go back to the Gewiss Stadium, on Wednesday 8th July the Nerazzurri host Sampdoria, who comes off two straight wins, against Lecce and Spal respectively.
Coach Gian Piero Gasperini talked about the match against the Blucerchiati, but also the away win at the Sardegna Arena, of the records set by his team, and much more.
Here is what Atalanta coach had to say.
10 wins in a row, 8 straight in the league and 100 goals scored in the season. Is there anything about ‘this’ Atalanta that still amazes you?
Well, the numbers say it all. We haven’t mathematically achieved the targets yet, we cannot dwell on this. Even if these are unthinkable numbers. Hopefully, we’ll have time once we achieve the target.
Is there room for improvement? Or better, where can this squad still improve?
Even big teams, those who win the leagues and the Champions League, have room for improvement, let alone if we don’t have it. The spirit is really good. Participation comes from everyone. Introducing new players, or players coming off the bench… This perhaps makes the squad better.
What did you like about the match in Cagliari? Among other things, Tameze and Šutalo made their debuts as starters.
This fact that we changed 6-7 individuals compared to the match against Napoli. They played with the same attention, with the same organisation. We didn’t concede weakness in that respect. They all played a great match, which demonstrates that everyone is doing well. The results perhaps help a lot. I have to say that the spirit of the whole squad, those who played a little less included, is really high.
Sampdoria on Wednesday, who are more pumped and confident after the two consecutive wins over Lecce and Spal, that move them away from the red zone of the table. And in the reverse match at the Marassi, it had ended 0-0: an unusual result for Atalanta.
In the reverse match, Sampdoria made it difficult for us to build play. At that time we had some absences and we also played in the Champions League. Yet we know that Samp are a good side, with these two wins they moved clear of the dangerous zone. It won’t be an easy game, different from the last two we played at home against Lazio and Napoli. We’ll need to get points now against Samp and next week against Brescia, to get closer to our objective, but we’ll have to interpret these matches differently.
You said that in Cagliari the squad suffered a little mental fatigue. Have these two days been enough to recover?
The fatigue from the team was only in the final minutes of the game, perhaps also for the fact that being one man up made it seem like it was easier to bring the result home, but it wasn’t. We risked being levelled. This is the demonstration that in football, as soon as you concede something, you risk not achieving the result.
Juventus are on Saturday, Sampdoria before that. Have you already made your choices for the line-up?
Our focus is only on Sampdoria, as I believe that it’ll be a difficult match to face, because of the features of the opponents. To win these games you must… These are the matches that we’ve always suffered a little more and have taken some points away from us. We’ll have to be good at overcoming these difficulties.
Five rounds of the league have been played so far, what’s your impression about this new tournament?
It’s a totally different league, compared to what it was in March. Especially for the frequency and the difficulty of the games, for the fact that there’s no fans. This makes the atmosphere totally different. This is not a less difficult league, or less fought. We have seen results overturned in matches where the result seemed to be taken for granted. It’s challenging in other contexts. You must always be focused and physically fit, because in this atmosphere, you risk leaving yourself in the lurch.
