Gasperini and Nicola commented on the match between Cagliari and Atalanta, underlining the performances of their players and declaring themselves satisfied but not too much. For the Nerazzurri coach the problem was his immaturity at the end. For the rossoblù coach, however, little cynicism.
Tenth consecutive victory in Serie A and first place consolidated with the 1-0 win against Cagliari. A success where Gian Piero Gasperini played his part, proving decisive with the substitutions and playing a complicated match.
Is this victory a sign of maturity?: “Especially in the final, we lived up to what this victory represented. In the first half we created little and in the end we were even lucky. In the second we changed structure and played a great game and took the lead. Then after the goal a bit of immaturity came out, we didn't take advantage of the spaces and we immediately suffered some of their balls in the area but there we were good with the defenders and the midfielders.”
“Right now a good portion of the team is ready, but not everyone. We've had 10 victories in a row, but nothing changes and the others are there too.”
“We didn't have the same importance on the race. We held strong behind, but that doesn't mean you score goals. We could have defended ourselves with everyone, then I would have been more satisfied.”
Did the match against Real Madrid have an influence?: “Not for everyone, there are people who played for Real and today they played 95 minutes. We weren't able to be dangerous going forward and they had a lot of space towards the end of the first half. In the second we were more effective and scored. So far so good, but we also have to do the final as a team.”
Nicola: “Great performance, but we have to be cynical”
Can we say that only the goal was missing?: “Right, even if ungrateful towards my players. Scoring goals is not an easy art. Against Fiorentina and Atalanta we had two important performances, I'm missing two points. This gives me great awareness. It was a great performance, but we have to be cynical. Atalanta? Great team that has the ability to put you under pressure at any time“.
“When you face teams like this you need to have humility and recognize the qualities of others. It's about waiting, trusting and developing players. This won't come straight away, at the end of the first round we will make some evaluations. The match was played very well, we went from a 4-man defense to a 3-man defence, with good results. In the final we also tried with the centimeters up front, even if we suffered a bit of frenzy.”
On the doubtful and missed penalty in the first half: “I don't feel like clinging to a single episode after such a performance.”
