Gasperini: ‘Atalanta started to get irritated’ with Celtic deep defending | OneFootball

Gian Piero Gasperini ‘would’ve preferred to win 3-2’ against Celtic rather than keep a third consecutive Champions League clean sheet. ‘We started to get irritated.’

La Dea absolutely dominated the match at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, with 62 per cent possession, 99 attacks to 21 and 23 total attempts to just four.

They rattled the woodwork with Mario Pasalic, who missed several other big chances, and repeatedly tested Kasper Schmeichel in goal.

Remarkably, Atalanta are only the second team on record in the Champions League to have over 20 shots and more than 50 touches in the opposition box, yet fail to find the net.

“It was one of those games where, despite all the hard work, the ball just did not want to go in,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.

“We dominated the match, created many opportunities, but lacked sharpness and perhaps a bit of luck too. When you don’t break the deadlock in a game like this, it all becomes more complicated.”

Gasperini would rather concede and score more goals

BERGAMO, ITALY – OCTOBER 23: Ademola Lookman of Atalanta BCbattles for possession with Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic FC during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD3 match between Atalanta BC and Celtic FC at Stadio di Bergamo on October 23, 2024 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

It means Atalanta have not conceded a single goal in their three Champions League games this season, but have also drawn two of them 0-0 after an identical home result with Arsenal.

This was considered a must-win match for the Italians, although the fact Celtic lost 7-1 to Borussia Dortmund last time made them focus all their energies on defence and little else.

“Not conceding goals is a positive aspect and maintaining defensive solidity is crucial. However, the most damaging thing today is the fact we could not score, despite repeatedly getting into their penalty area. Personally, I would’ve preferred to win 3-2 rather than draw 0-0, because goals make the difference in the Champions League,” insisted Gasperini.

La Dea seemed to run out of steam in the second half, despite bringing fresh legs off the bench, moving first Charles De Ketelaere and then Nicolò Zaniolo into the centre-forward role.

“Perhaps we started to get irritated. When you know that you had so many chances and didn’t make the most of them, you can be tempted to rush things. That made us hasty and Celtic closed up even more,” continued Gasperini.

“Honestly, I had never seen Celtic defend so deep before. I took Retegui off because I needed fresh legs and it is difficult at the moment to keep the strikers always on their toes with so many games. We needed to do something different.”

Lazar Samardzic also came off the bench to be a wing-back, but Gasperini quickly changed back with the introduction of Juan Cuadrado.

“I had tried to use Samardzic on the wing to make the most of the space, but we were running too many risks, we were tired in defence and Celtic were starting to push back. Kolasinac and Hien were both nowhere near fit, so there was the danger of even conceding on the counter.

“So I preferred to get us organised again with Cuadrado and maintain control of the match.”