Gasperini: ‘Atalanta being favourites against Marseille doesn’t count for much’

Gian Piero Gasperini is not particularly fussed by his Atalanta side being dubbed the ‘favourites’ ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Olympique de Marseille, but insists his side need to put in a quality performance to back up the compliments they have recently received in the press.

La Dea will travel to the Stade Velodrome for the first leg of their European double-header, with the hope of landing a spot in the competition’s final. Kick-off is scheduled for 20.00 BST.

Gasperini conducted his customary pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening, reported via TMW.

There, he discussed his team’s fortunes since their spectacular aggregate win over Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, and what that has meant for his side ahead of their next Europa League endeavour.

Gasperini’s thoughts on Atalanta post-Liverpool

“The title of ‘favourites’ doesn’t count for much, what matters is how you play on the pitch,” Gasperini told the press. “Tomorrow we have more credibility, because we eliminated Liverpool, but we always start from 0-0.

“I hope to do better than our first leg (of the Coppa Italia semi-final) in Florence. When there are two matches, there are always different attitudes. Our first ambition is to have a good match here and to stand tall, have courage and quality when faced with these sorts of games.”

The Atalanta boss then provided his thoughts on the club’s season. They are currently the only Italian side still playing in three different competitions: Serie A, the Europa League and the Coppa Italia.

“This season has been truly extraordinary for us. We have played in so many important matches, like tomorrow’s will be as well. Both teams deserve to play in this Europa League semi-final, it’s right that there’s a lot of hope and attention on both sides.

“We are still in all our competitions, but at the moment, this is the one that we’re thinking about, it is our pressing priority.”

Then, moving onto team news, Gasperini explained that the vast majority of his squad will be available to face Marseille.

He said: “The players who were called up are still available to play. Bakker missed today because of flu. Musso will play in goal. Scalvini has recovered. We have some situations that are quite clear, and in different matches it becomes clear what our formation could be.

Atalanta will be backed by over 2,000 travelling supporters in the South of France. When asked how that feels, Gasperini replied: “It brings an enormous sense of pride, I’m really happy. It was like that at Anfield, tomorrow our fans will get to go to another fantastic stadium.

“For a club with not massive numbers, but with enormous passion behind us, it’s a great achievement.”

Finally, Gasperini explained what his players have to do in order to make good on the compliments they have recently received in the press.

“We are pleased, but we also know we have to back it up,” he said.

“Tomorrow we have an opportunity to do that and show it on the pitch. Our objective is to qualify, but also to come to a great stadium and play a great match. The result becomes irrelevant then.”