Gasperini: ‘Not a crossroads for Atalanta campaign’ | OneFootball

Gian Piero Gasperini feels the 1-1 draw ‘ultimately satisfies everyone’ because Atalanta and Juventus had so many scoring opportunities, but laughs off Scudetto ‘crossroads’ questions.

This was the third consecutive stalemate for La Dea, who had to claw their way back into the game after Pierre Kalulu’s opener, as Mateo Retegui made his comeback off the bench to nod in the equaliser.

Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities in a thrilling encounter at the Gewiss Stadium that saw them share the points.

“We coaches suffer more than enjoy, but even from the bench it felt like a very entertaining match,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.

“You need two teams to make it a great game, I was very satisfied with our performance and it was not easy to break down their defence in the first half. It was tough once we went behind after controlling the initiative for such a long time, we recovered and both sides had the chances to win. It was a performance that ultimately satisfies everyone.”

Gasperini keeps Atalanta ambitions on track

epa11824638 Juventus’s ‘and Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman in action during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Atalanta BC and Juventus FC, in Bergamo, Italy, 14 January 2025. EPA-EFE/MICHELE MARAVIGLIA

This result means that Atalanta continue their unbeaten run since September 2024, but are now four points adrift of leaders Napoli, who they will face on Saturday. Is that going to be the crossroads of their campaign?

“It’s not a crossroads!” chuckled Gasperini.

“We have played 20 games, we’ve got another 18 to go. If you think it’s for the Scudetto, then fine you can call it a crossroads, but if we have to target anything then it’s the Champions League!”

They nonetheless remain nine clear of Juventus in the standings, even if they drop down to third place behind Inter.

Marco Carnesecchi again made some extraordinary saves, clawing a Kalulu header off the line with millimetres to spare.

“He is having some extraordinary performances and decisive saves for the result. He has become a really important goalkeeper and is always ready, even when he doesn’t have much to do. I think he has everything it takes to be among the best, he has to improve with his feet, but otherwise has it all,” explained Gasperini.

“On the goal, we allowed a space to open up and Kalulu ran into it. We did very well in general on these situations, but could’ve closed that gap earlier and it was an avoidable goal. It was a match with many scoring opportunities and we did well overall.”

Odilon Kossounou was ruled out by injury this evening and Sead Kolasinac will be suspended against Napoli on Saturday, so do Atalanta intend to sign any replacements?

“We lost an important player who was really making his mark, unfortunately it is a long injury lay-off, but the good news is that Giorgio Scalvini has recovered. It’s curious, because we had signed Kossounou as Scalvini was injured,” concluded Gasperini.