Gian Piero Gasperini is well aware of how close Atalanta came to beating Juventus in Sunday’s blockbuster contest in Bergamo. However, La Dea had to settle for a gut-wrenching 0-0 draw after wasting several presentable opportunities to put the ball past Wojciech Szczesny.
A fourth clean sheet in succession provided some consolation, but the result left a bitter taste in Gasperini’s mouth. Atalanta had Juventus on the ropes, especially in the second half. But Szczesny pulled off some remarkable stops to deny the home side a deserved victory.
Since taking charge of Atalanta, Gasperini has developed a habit of sharing the spoils with Juventus. This draw marked the seventh stalemate in their last 11 meetings in Serie A. To their credit, La Dea showed much more ambition to break the deadlock, but to no avail.
“Of course there are regrets that we did not get three points, as it would’ve been a big step forward. Looking overall, we were playing against a strong Juventus side and played well,” the Atalanta manager said, as quoted by Calciomercato.
“Considering especially the second half, we would’ve deserved the victory, but we emerge stronger from this performance, with more confidence in ourselves and a squad that we can rely on.”
There’s no time to moan as Atalanta return to action on Thursday to encounter Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League. That will be their final rehearsal ahead of a daunting-looking Serie A trip to the Stadio Olimpico to meet Lazio next weekend.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |