Gasperini: ‘Atalanta banged head against Celtic wall, VfB very different’ | OneFootball

Gian Piero Gasperini expects a ‘very different’ Champions League test for Atalanta against VfB Stuttgart after ‘banging our heads against a wall’ for 90 minutes against defensive Celtic.

It kicks off at the MHPArena in Stuttgart at 20.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Inter-Arsenal on the Liveblog.

La Dea have won their last five Serie A matches, including a spectacular 3-0 away to leaders Napoli on Sunday.

However, in Europe they are left to regret wasted opportunities in 0-0 draws with Arsenal and Celtic, having seven points from three rounds.

Gasperini has brought in Mateo Retegui for Charles De Ketelaere and Raoul Bellanova in place of Matteo Ruggeri, the only changes from the side that beat Napoli.

“Changing two men out of 10 isn’t a little bit,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“This is a different game against a different opponent, we are away from home in an arena with a great deal of enthusiasm, so we need to be focused.”

Gasperini expects attacking VfB against Atalanta

epa11685824 Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman celebrates after scoring the 5-0 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Atalanta BC and Hellas Verona, in Bergamo, Italy, 26 October 2024. EPA-EFE/MICHELE MARAVIGLIA

VfB Stuttgart also stuttered with a defeat to Real Madrid and 1-1 draw with Sparta Prague, but then caused shockwaves with a 1-0 victory away to Juventus on October 22.

“Stuttgart played against Real Madrid and Juventus, so considering they’ve had more shots on goal than anyone else, that’s saying something. I think it will be a very different approach to the one we had with Celtic, where we were banging our heads against a wall for over 90 minutes. In this game, both teams will try to win,” added Gasperini.

Atalanta have seven points from three rounds in this new format of the Champions League, where all the results go into one big table.

“The beauty of the Champions League is that the table starts to take shape, but the fixture list is very complicated with eight different opponents, so we have to just take it one game at a time and wait to see what happens.

“It is a big test for us to play in this situation.”