Palladino: ‘Atalanta lost to probably the best side in Europe’ | OneFootball

Raffaele Palladino admits Atalanta changed their gameplan and were still swept aside by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. ‘We faced probably the best side in Europe right now.’

La Dea knew that their chances of qualification were slim to non-existent after the 6-1 first leg defeat, but wanted to give a better account of themselves at the Allianz Arena.

They were only 1-0 down at half-time here to a Harry Kane penalty, but the England international scored again after the restart, followed by Lennart Karl’s angled drive moments later.

A Luis Diaz chip and late Lazar Samardzic header rounded out the scoreline of 4-1 on the night, 10-2 on aggregate.

Palladino recognises Bayern Munich strength

MUNICH, GERMANY – MARCH 18: Harry Kane of FC Bayern Munich celebrates scoring his team’s first goal from the penalty spot during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Atalanta BC at Football Arena Munich on March 18, 2026 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

“We wanted to play with pride, we changed our gameplan and tried to sit a bit deeper, giving our all against a very strong team,” Palladino told Sky Sport Italia.

“I have to compliment Bayern Munich, Vincent Kompany, the whole club, because we probably faced the best side in Europe right now. You’ve got to just be honest and accept the result on the pitch.”

Nearly 4,000 Atalanta fans made the journey from Italy for this match, and had the added difficulty of a local transport strike affecting their trip to the stadium.

“We tried to give our all, the objective was to salute our many fans with a better result than the first leg, and they were again fantastic tonight,” added Palladino.

MUNICH, GERMANY – MARCH 18: Raffaele Palladino, Head Coach of Atalanta, acknowledges the fans following the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Atalanta BC at Football Arena Munich on March 18, 2026 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

The coach had attempted some experiments for the first leg, including a four-man defence, so did he have regrets over that approach or did Atalanta learn valuable lessons for the future?

“Hindsight is easy, we probably could’ve done some things differently, but then today we had a different plan and sat deeper, but it didn’t change a lot. Bayern Munich are a complete squad in every sense, they will always find a way to play through you and break you down,” insisted Palladino.

“We learned a great deal in these two matches, because playing at this level forces you to step up and accept your limitations with great humility. We have to congratulate our opponents.”

MUNICH, GERMANY – MARCH 18: Raffaele Palladino, Head Coach of Atalanta, reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Atalanta BC at Football Arena Munich on March 18, 2026 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Atalanta were the only remaining Italian representatives in the Champions League and now they are out, so what is the difficulty compared to these other European contenders?

“The biggest difference is how quickly the ball moves around,” explained Palladino.

“You might not notice it as much on television, but up close you see how quickly it is passed, they always pass it onto the correct foot, they control at pace, shake off defenders and also have peaks of sprinting speed that is higher.

“I think we have to change from the youth academies, because when we play teams like Bayern Munich, it seems like a different sport. We’ve all got to focus more on individuals and these basics from the early years, because there is a clear difference.”

La Dea are the only side who managed to get through the play-offs, eliminating Borussia Dortmund 4-1 in the second leg after losing the first 2-0.

Atalanta were also the only Serie A side still in three competitions, as the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final with Lazio ended 2-2.

“We have the Coppa Italia, which is an objective we care about, because we want to bring silverware to Bergamo and Atalanta got so close to winning several times in recent years without managing it, so that would be a dream,” commented Palladino.

“At the same time, it is also worth direct access to the Europa League. We also have Serie A, and the next two rounds against Verona and Lecce, then there are head-to-heads with Roma, Juventus and Bologna.

“We know that we started from way back, I arrived and we were in 13th place, now we are in seventh, so we’ve made that climb up, I will continue to ask a lot from my players, because it’s still wide open to the end.”