Gasperini: ‘Atalanta emerge stronger’ from 3-2 defeat to Napoli

BERGAMO, ITALY – JANUARY 18: Giovanni Di Lorenzo of Napoli is challenged by Matteo Ruggeri of Atalanta as Gian Piero Gasperini, Head Coach of Atalanta, looks on during the Serie A match between Atalanta and Napoli at Gewiss Stadium on January 18, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Gian Piero Gasperini and Atalanta find their 3-2 defeat to Napoli ‘difficult to accept’ after such a strong performance, but ‘we emerge stronger from games like this.’

La Divinità  had been unbeaten in 15 Serie A rounds, although their progress had been slowing in recent weeks with three consecutive stalemates.

Mateo Retegui’s opener was cancelled out by Matteo Politano and Scott McTominay, with Ademola Lookman taking on the entire opposition defence single-handed for 2-2.

However, Romelu Lukaku shrugged off Giorgio Scalvini for a glancing header to decide the 3-2 result in Bergamo.

“This is a defeat we struggle to swallow considering the way we played and the statistics, but this is football. It takes nothing away from the quality of Napoli, but it is difficult to accept,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.

“We play every three days, there might be some performances where you don’t give your best, but in the last few weeks we have played Lazio, Juventus, Inter and Napoli, so the very best in Italian football.

“It’s fine, we have to focus on our journey and perhaps today we paid a heavy price, in other games we were luckier, but overall I saw a great performance.”

Gasperini focused on Atalanta performances

This leaves Atalanta seven points adrift of leaders Napoli in the Serie A standings, although Gasperini had always been adamant they should not be considered part of the Scudetto race.

“We are not going to be distracted by results, we look at the performances. With Lazio, we could’ve won or lost, Juventus were very clammed up and focused on defence, while we had a lot of quality tonight against a strong side like Napoli. It’s perhaps true, our only slightly disappointing performance was against Udinese,” added the coach.

“I maintain we emerge stronger from games like this. We now have the Champions, then Serie A and the Coppa Italia, we are playing every three days, so we do not have time for regrets over a result that didn’t go our way.”

Of the three goals, it was put to Gasperini that two were caused by defensive errors and it was also the first time in Serie A this season that Atalanta conceded with a header.

“With mistakes like that in a normal match, you run a risk, but in a game like this you will lose. We ruined the result, we need to be more careful on incidents, but I continue to maintain they can be teachable moments.”

There was a blow today with news Odilon Kossounou had surgery on a torn adductor tendon and should be out of action for at least three months. Is Gasperini asking the club to buy a replacement?

“We have not talked about the transfer market since August, so we’re not going to start now. Kossounou is disappointing, he will be out for a long time. Between Scalvini, Scamacca and now Kossounou, we’ve been unlucky with serious injuries, but we can’t just constantly buy players every time someone gets hurt.”