Atalanta Coach Gian Piero Gasperini has dismissed claims that his side are like Leicester after a shock rise to fifth in the table.
The Orobici take on Juventus at the weekend on the back of a nine game unbeaten run in the league, and a 3-0 Coppa Italia win over Pescara in midweek.
"After the defeat at home to Palermo I was almost sacked, Gasperini told Tuttosport. "However this was the time that I made the plunge.
Atalanta Coach Gian Piero Gasperini has dismissed claims that his side are like Leicester after a shock rise to fifth in the table.
The Orobici take on Juventus at the weekend on the back of a nine game unbeaten run in the league, and a 3-0 Coppa Italia win over Pescara in midweek.
"After the defeat at home to Palermo I was almost sacked, Gasperini told Tuttosport. "However this was the time that I made the plunge.
"At that point I wanted to give a signal, it made me realise that I had come because a certain type of project had been asked of me. I had to put it into practice.
"Against Crotone [Andrea] Petagna started and then came [Andrea] Conti, [Mattia] Caldara and [Roberto] Gagliardini.
"We've had some striking results. If you are in this position for so long it is not a coincidence. The same goes for the Cup. Our points are well-deserved.
"We needed to break things up at the time. The team was made up of a group of players that had suffered 14 games without a win, so there was some mental residue.
"The only thing that unites us with Leicester is the surprise factor, after that we are very different.
"They are a mature team and built with people bought from anywhere. They play differently and have more financial resources than us."
What about this weekend's opponents Juventus?
"Juve are stronger than everyone but we will try to treat it like every other match. You can have bad days but they are first in Italy and in the Champions League. But there is curiosity about confronting these beasts.
"Their defeat to Genoa? It was a match played out in a certain way, Genoa scored immediately to help put things in the right direction.
"If I could take someone out of the Juve side for this challenge, I would say Buffon. Without him it would be a different match."