Gian Piero Gasperini confirms Atalanta now have ‘ambition’ in the Champions League after their 2-0 victory away to VfB Stuttgart, but has a different view of their Scudetto chances.
It was another splendid night for La Dea, who were already coming off five consecutive Serie A victories, including the 3-0 away to leaders Napoli on Sunday.
They are yet to concede a single Champions League goal and walked away from Stuttgart with three points thanks to Ademola Lookman and substitute Nicolò Zaniolo piercing the VfB defences.
Having won the Europa League last season, now they are drawing Scudetto challenge talk, so has their mentality climbed up yet another level?
“We came here with ambition, but that’s a long way from winning, because these are difficult places to play. They were coming off a fantastic win away to Juventus, but the way we won also gave us confidence, because we played with character,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s true we suffered a little towards the end, were lacking a bit of organisation to stop those situations, but I always say that Champions League games help you to grow and we saw that valuable experience earned in the Europa League last season.”
Gasperini proud of Atalanta's approach
Atalanta and Inter are the only teams out of 36 in the Champions League this season who have kept four clean sheets, a remarkable run considering Gasperini’s style of football was always about attack first.
“Considering the teams that we played like Arsenal, we had a sense of solidity and didn’t really look under too much pressure. We managed to get these points built also on solid defending.
“This is a victory that puts us in a good position for this Champions League table. I don’t know how it will end, but there are many teams crammed together in a few points. Serie A is a different competition, naturally we prepare for Udinese with confidence.”
Zaniolo finally got his first goal in the Atalanta jersey, pouncing on a comical defensive error.
“I am glad for Zaniolo getting the goal, we are continuing to work with him and this is a further boost for him to keep that growth process going.”
Gasperini and Atalanta had always shrugged off any talk of winning silverware, but following the Europa League triumph last season, have they raised the bar?
“I respect everyone’s views, but in June my ambition was not so much to sign a long contract as to keep the squad intact after winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League. We did not intend to sign 11 new players, but everyone knows what happened over the summer.
“If you ask me can we win the Scudetto, I would say no. We can hope to stay in that group if the others wait for us, we are pleased with our progress, but to win the title we’d need to make many more steps forward. I don’t think that’s heresy, nor hiding our light under a bushel,” concluded Gasperini.
“We were close to having a far more competitive squad, but we’ll have to build our way towards it with the club.”
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