Gomez: 'Atalanta painful for City'

By Football Italia staff

Atalanta captain Alejandro Gomez claims Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola told him “facing us was like going to the dentist” last night.

Atalanta came back from behind to draw 1-1 with City in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, in a historic result for Gomez’s side at San Siro.

“He told me facing us was like going to the dentist,” he told Sky Sport Italia after the game.

However, they wasted a great opportunity to win the match as the English giants played the final six minutes with Walker - an outfield player - between the sticks.

“I’m sorry because when Walker was in goal, we didn’t create any clear opportunities. This is what we are sorry about.”

Despite that, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb also drew in a six-goal thriller to keep the Dea alive with two games to spare.

“We are happy. We were lucky that Shakhtar drew in the end and we are still alive in this tournament.”

The learning curve is steep for a team in the midst of their first-ever Champions League experience.

“From what I can tell, it’s the pace. We noticed it during preseason when we went to play in Spain or England. They play at twice the speed,” added the 31-year-old.

“Italian football is slower, whilst these teams play to win and attack. They press with high intensity, whilst in Italy there aren’t any teams who press you like that.

Gabriel Jesus missed a penalty in the 43rd minute, and Gomez admitted it helped Atalanta come back out for the second half with more confidence.

“We did well. City slowly pin you back. We wanted to keep the match open until the 80th minute.

“If they had scored the penalty, it would have been over. In the second half we raised our rhythm.”

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