Gasperini: 'Horrible Atalanta'

By Football Italia staff

Gian Piero Gasperini holds his hands up after Atalanta’s “horrible” Champions League debut, but tries to focus on Franck Ribery’s Fiorentina.

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The Orobici saw their Champions League dream debut turn into a nightmare with a 4-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb.

“We were the first to recognise it was a beating,” confessed the Coach in his Press conference.

“I had to be both Coach and therapist over the last few days. It was a horrible debut, we blamed ourselves in every way, but the concentration now must move on to the next game. When the moment comes, we’ll focus on the Champions League again, but we’ve got three Serie A games coming up in seven days.

“Luis Muriel isn’t quite fully fit yet, while Arana and Kjaer also need time to be gradually introduced. We’ve got Timothy Castagne back, as he was out for six weeks.

“Dinamo Zagreb had not one extra gear, but two compared to us. We also created some dangerous situations and didn’t make the most of them. It’s not the first time we’ve lost, but this one has hit the headlines more.

“The fact remains, we did not enter the Champions League so we could then turn our backs on the approach that got us there. We won’t change our style of football. It’s not an issue of the system.”

Fiorentina are without a win yet this season, but held Juventus to an impressive 0-0 draw last weekend.

“They have changed a great deal, introducing important players, above all Ribery,” continued Gasperini.

“It looks to me as if we should approach Fiorentina with caution and not read too much into their results so far. This is a quality team.

“They played some games with 4-3-3, including last season’s Coppa Italia semi-final against us. We have to prepare for a team that can play in two very different formations.”

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