Gian Piero Gasperini and Atalanta have their sights set on another Coppa Italia Final, but he thought Napoli ‘were among the main Scudetto contenders.’
The first leg of the semi-final kicks off on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with the decider on February 10.
“We have to take it one game at a time, but this is a semi-final played in two halves. Getting through to the Final again would be a very, very important achievement,” Gasperini told RAI Sport.
Gian Piero Gasperini and Atalanta have their sights set on another Coppa Italia Final, but he thought Napoli ‘were among the main Scudetto contenders.’
The first leg of the semi-final kicks off on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with the decider on February 10.
“We have to take it one game at a time, but this is a semi-final played in two halves. Getting through to the Final again would be a very, very important achievement,” Gasperini told RAI Sport.
It would be the second Atalanta Final in just a couple of years, as they lost 2-0 to Lazio in 2019.
“Our defeat to Napoli in Serie A (4-1 in October) was one of our worst performances of the season, so we know that we are undoubtedly against a very strong opponent. I thought pre-season that Napoli were among the main contenders for the Scudetto.”
Atalanta are also fresh from a 3-1 home defeat in Serie A to Lazio, but Robin Gosens is available again after suspension, while Cristian Romero’s COVID result was a false positive.
“They are very important players, especially as Jose Luis Palomino is suspended. We have more or less the same squad after the January window, bringing in Joakim Maehle who can do well in a tiring role on the flanks. We’ll get to know Viktor Kovalenko over the next few days.”
Gasp of course neglected to mention that one very big player has left, with Papu Gomez joining Sevilla.
“It’s natural that people assume he’s missed when we do badly, but we had a 14-match unbeaten run before this weekend and hope to do it again. We’ve beaten Milan and Lazio in recent weeks, so that’s what we should build on.”