Gian Piero Gasperini insists Atalanta put in a positive performance against Juventus in the Coppa Italia Final, but is ‘worried’ by Marten de Roon’s injury.
Gasperini spoke at a press conference attended by Football Italia on Wednesday night following Atalanta’s 1-0 loss against Juventus in the Coppa Italia Final.
“Luckily our season doesn’t end here. There’s a lot to do,” said Gasp.
“We have three games to qualify for the Champions League and another Final in Dublin next week. We are still here. I am not disappointed. I am sorry but don’t think we are disappointed.”
Which consequences does he fear for La Dea given that they have another Final next week?
“To have lost De Roon, which is heavy,” he replied.
“Kolasinac is still not ready and these are the only negative things. We have many targets which put us in the condition to have a great reaction. We faced a strong side, that took the lead immediately, so that was the best situation for them. We felt Scamacca’s absence, but the team and the players gave their all.
“It’s impossible to win 10 or 12 consecutive matches in a row, as we did. It was a balanced game; perhaps we did something more [than Juventus], but all games we play are finals, and luckily, we have other targets left,” continued the Atalanta boss.
Gasperini insisted that Charles De Ketelaere did not disappoint him.
“We’ve been playing every three days. Sometimes highs and lows are normal. He’ll be ready for Lecce,” he said.
“As I said before, you can’t play 10 consecutive games at your best. I am not disappointed by the performance and I think all our players were in good shape. Lookman was the most convincing among the strikers. Everyone seemed fit and in good shape, the only thing that worries me is that [De Roon] injury.”
As for Kolasinac, who has been out of action for a few weeks, Gasp said: “The target is the Dublin Final. Nothing has changed, we are still in doubt.
“We wanted to play without a real centre forward trying to create numerical advantage with short passes,” Gasp concluded.
“Unfortunately, the plan was spoiled after just a few minutes, so I tried to alternate De Ketelaere and Lookman as central strikers. Then I tried Touré, but in a different match, we would not have missed Scamacca so much. In this kind of match, we did miss him.”