Gian Piero Gasperini ‘absolutely’ would’ve made the same decisions after Atalanta’s Champions League exit to Real Madrid, but regrets a lack of ‘precision.’
This was only La Dea’s second Champions League campaign and they reached the quarter-finals last season, but this time went out in the Round of 16 to Real Madrid, 4-1 on aggregate.
While in the first leg, the game-plan was ruined by Remo Freuler’s controversial red card 17 minutes in, here Gasp opted to leave Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic on the bench, with Marco Sportiello rather than Pierluigi Gollini.
With the benefit of hindsight, would Gasperini have made the same choices?
“I absolutely would’ve made the same decisions. Unfortunately, the first goal, the penalty and even the goal in the first leg compromised a qualification that would’ve been tough anyway. When you gift goals like that, it becomes even tougher,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s a pity, we felt that we had the possibility to do better and take the game to Real Madrid. It went down the wrong path, that was partly our own fault, and it became too difficult then.
“These experiences are always fantastic for the players, coach and club, because we are up against the best on the international stage.
“We should still be satisfied, as we eliminated Ajax and got through a group with Liverpool. We hoped that we could’ve done better in both games against Real Madrid.”
Atalanta can now focus on finishing in the top four of Serie A for the third year running.
“Now we’ve got Serie A until the Coppa Italia Final in May, so clearly all our energy will go on that. I think we should emerge from this fixture with the right determination and energy to give our best there and qualify for Europe.”
Duvan Zapata was a surprise decision, left on the bench initially with Ilicic, as Muriel was a lone centre-forward.
“Duvan had a few fitness problems in recent weeks. My plan was to keep the game open, try to have more chances in the second half and keep options open for extra time too.
“Unfortunately, the first goal and above all the second made it difficult for us to turn it around. Muriel has done very well in that role and I didn’t want to get near the end with no other options to throw on. I had hoped it would’ve been still open by then.
“The regrets are for the way we conceded the goals rather than anything else.”
Gasperini was also asked if technique was the decisive factor today, as while Atalanta made errors, Real Madrid were more precise.
“When I said we didn’t play the game we hoped, that is what I mean, as we didn’t play as well with our passing, weren’t precise enough and were below par compared to usual.
“Passing is the language of a team, and if you don’t move the ball well, you don’t communicate. We wasted lots of opportunities to create chances and play it better.”
The tempo also seemed surprisingly high, considering Atalanta are usually one of the quickest-moving teams in Serie A.
“Undoubtedly, we are facing teams and players who can move the ball much quicker than we are accustomed to facing, which prompts us to make more mistakes.
“Every team and individual player has to improve that in order to be competitive at this level. I remain convinced we could’ve done better tonight, especially at a certain stage of the season.
“It has happened before that we don’t pass the ball cleanly and start to get frustrated. The lack of precision and technical errors are the biggest regrets.”