Gian Piero Gasperini admits he has ‘regrets’ and wanted an Atalanta victory against Arsenal, but the Champions League 0-0 draw proves they can ‘play at this level’ and keep improving.
La Dea were making their return to the Champions League after 1,015 days away, but their status on the European stage has changed since lifting the Europa League trophy in May.
That was reflected in tonight’s performance at the Gewiss Stadium, where Atalanta were left with regrets at only drawing 0-0 with Premier League contenders Arsenal, Mateo Retegui seeing both his penalty and follow-up header clawed off the line by David Raya’s double save.
“Of course there are regrets, a penalty is always a big opportunity and going 1-0 up at that moment would’ve been important,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“However, we should be happy with the performance, which was of a high level to match our opponents. Seeing the rebound, it was an exceptional save, but also the header was too close to him. It’s a pity, as that was perhaps the best performance Retegui had since he’s been here and he worked so hard tonight, he deserved a goal.”
Atalanta had struggled so far this season, winning two Serie A games, but also losing to Torino and flattened 4-0 by Inter at San Siro.
“I admire Arsenal a great deal and tonight they didn’t do a lot in attack, but confirmed they are solid and difficult to break down. We will emerge stronger from this game, we learned a lot,” continued Gasperini.
“We have recently had some good performances, but did not express ourselves the right way against Inter. At least tonight we learned something about how to play against opponents of this level.”
Atalanta and Gasperini always go for victory
Gasperini proved his desire to win with the second half substitutions, as well as his choice of starting XI.
“Well yes, that is our spirit. That doesn’t mean we are not defending, as the defensive work done by Lookman, De Ketelaere and Retegui was admirable. If we have our strikers working so hard to help the defence, then we can put a few more forwards on the field and improve our chances of scoring.
“I thought Arsenal looked a bit like they were settling for a draw and we didn’t get the unpredictable finish that we needed, as they were clammed up around their own penalty area. I did think we had more chances of winning the game than they did.”
Marten de Roon and Ederson seemed to out-play Declan Rice and Thomas Partey in midfield, with the Brazilian winning a penalty too.
“I agree, Ederson was even stronger in the second half, he showed his remarkable strength. That is the heart of the game and we were undoubtedly helped by the defensive work of the strikers, but our midfielders won most of the duels,” continued Gasperini.
“It was not easy to break down the Arsenal defence and we need to improve our play out from the back, but I am satisfied. We learned something from this match and want to carry that forward. This is why we’ve managed to grow so much in recent years and been able to play at this level.”
Atalanta kept only their second clean sheet of the campaign and Gasperini admits they had been concerned at Arsenal’s strength scoring from set plays.
“We had a few difficulties so far this season in defence, but above all conceded ugly goals on set plays. On Sunday against Fiorentina, we conceded two headers from dead ball situations, against Inter goals from throw-ins and corners, so that was our Achilles Heel.
“I said it would not be difficult to fix, because those were cheap goals to give away and just a matter of concentration, but our overall defending from open play has been good.”