Rome, January 28 (LaPresse) – "A beautiful stadium, it reminds me of the Olympics. We were unlucky; against Real Madrid, we had to play at their training center because the Bernabeu was under renovation. Now, against Barcelona, we were hoping to play in the new Camp Nou, but this will be a way to return there. Barcelona evokes many memories tied to sports, and their team is the most prestigious of all. Weak points? Every team has them, but they are always impressive. This year, Flick has done an extraordinary job; the team scores many goals and not only has great talents but also cohesion and excellent gameplay." These were the words of Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini to Sky Sport on the eve of the Champions League match against Barcelona.
"Many big teams struggling? It might be due to the format and also the uneven calendar for everyone. But it has made the competition very exciting. We don't set specific targets at the start; we play and then see what happens. We're neither overconfident in our goals nor overly modest in facing matches. We started with away wins; perhaps the matches against Celtic and Arsenal could have given us those two extra points, but we would have signed up to reach the playoffs. In the last round, we're still here, we have chances, and we will try to make the most of them," he concluded.