The Atalanta coach rejects the theory of post-Champions tiredness after the defeat against Sassuolo and points the finger at the management of the second goal.
No alibi linked to Europe. Raffaele Palladino clearly analyzes the 2-1 defeat suffered at the Mapei Stadium against Sassuolo, rejecting the idea of a tired team after their Champions League commitment. The coach doesn’t mince words. The match was conditioned by specific episodes and management errors, not by a lack of energy. The focus immediately shifts to the Italian Cup.
The numerical superiority that changed the match
The approach to the race was correct. Palladino explains how the team started well, controlling the game in the first fifteen minutes and creating chances with Zalewski. The paradoxical turning point came with numerical superiority. “When we gained numerical superiority, we immediately conceded a goal and from there the whole inertia changed,” said the coach. Sassuolo locked themselves into a low block, making it difficult to find spaces. In the first half the maneuver was too slow and central, while in the second half, despite a faster ball turn, it was not possible to break the deadlock.
The mistake on the doubling and the late reaction
The real crux of the defeat is the second goal conceded. “The big regret is having conceded the second goal,” insisted Palladino. The error was technical and positioning. The team did not stop the opponent’s transition with preventive marking, allowing Sassuolo to restart and reach the goal. “We should have stopped it much earlier,” he explained, referring to the action that led to the second goal. Musah’s goal in the 88th minute only belatedly reopened a match in which Atalanta also hit a post and a crossbar, increasing the regret for a negative result considered an accident.
Italian Cup objective
Palladino didn’t want to hear about tiredness, defending his tactical choices such as not switching to the two strikers so as not to alter the team’s balance. The defeat does not change the plans. It’s a misstep to learn from. The analysis of the errors has already begun, but the focus is on the next match. “Now we have to be good at resetting and immediately thinking about the Italian Cup commitment,” concluded the coach.
