Stefano Colantuono is pulling no punches when preparing Atalanta” data-scaytid=”24″>Atalanta for a Coppa Italia game with Cesena. “I want my players to spit blood!”
Stefano Colantuono is pulling no punches when preparing Atalanta for a Coppa Italia game with Cesena. “I want my players to spit blood!”
The Orobici fell to a shock 1-0 home defeat against Genoa on Sunday and the Coach is eager to get back on track in this tournament tomorrow afternoon.
“There are still huge regrets after watching the Genoa game back, as especially in the second half we had done enough to deserve a comfortable victory. I don’t want to find excuses, but Genoa only defended and it was difficult to find space.
“We will try to put it all behind us and concentrate on the Coppa Italia. We care a great deal about this competition and want to go all the way. Tomorrow will be a struggle, because Cesena are coming to Bergamo in order to defend and again we’ll have to fight in order to find the right gaps.
“We require real patience and must not leave ourselves open to the counter-attack. It is also crucial that we do not think about the fact this is a Serie B team.
“Is this our only real chance of reaching Europe next season? I don’t know. I don’t like to talk about European dreams after a defeat. We want to win, but that is also true of every Serie A game.
“I always tell my lads that wearing the Atalanta jersey must be considered an honour and they must spit blood in every match, regardless of the competition.”
Colantuono confirmed that Luca Cigarini, Guido Marilungo and Facundo Parra will be in the starting XI against Cesena, but Ferreira Pinto and Davide Biondini are injured.
Atalanta squad for Cesena: Consigli, Frezzolini, Polito; Bellini, Brivio, Ferri, Lucchini, Manfredini, Matheu, Peluso, Raimondi, Stendardo; Bonaventura, Carmona, Cazzola, Cigarini, Radovanovic, Schelotto, Scozzarella, Troisi; De Luca, Denis, Marilungo, Moralez, Parra