Atalanta, Gasperini: “Super Hojlund, even if we often go behind”

Mission accomplished: Atalanta clears the Dall’Ara (unconquered since September) and engages the two Romans in the middle of the Europa area (at an altitude of 31 points in the standings). At a disadvantage in the first half, the Goddess lights up and reacts in the second, just as happened in La Spezia in the last round (2-2 comeback). In Bologna, led by the duo Koopmeiners and Hojlund (both primed by the substitute Boga), the nerazzurri put the arrow in the second half and conquer a victory that hadn’t even been missing since October (0-2 in Empoli). “Lately we always go behind and this affects the performance because it gives impetus to the opponent – analyzed mister Gian Piero Gasperini to the microphones of Dazn -. We struggled in the first half. Boga gave us more speed and it went well”.

Extraordinary

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Honorable mention by the Nerazzurri coach for Hojlund, scorer of the winning goal. “He made an extraordinary performance, not only for scoring: he’s a 19-year-old boy who is already in the limelight in the Italian league – said coach Gasperini -. Hojlund has had exponential growth but his talents were already evident”. And on Atalanta, paired with the Romans in full fight for Europe (-3 from fourth place), Gasperini explained that “over the years we have lost many players but we still have a large group of old players and some important young players among I also include Ruggeri and Koopmeiners. Ederson himself, who regrouped the midfield tonight, is a player destined to do well. We are experiencing a transitional phase by exploiting the energy of those who were already there and the enthusiasm of the newcomers” . He reiterated the concept to Sky Gasperini: “In terms of attention and conviction, we lacked something in 2022, even in home matches – he explained -. we are there with the big names. Hojlund can truly be a future top-level striker. It is not easy to get this type of player, investments are important. We have to understand how Sturm Graz found him in Denmark before anyone else Boga’s impact on the match? As long as I’m at Atalanta, I employ all the players.”

Europe

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With his second consecutive goal in Serie A, Rasmus Hojlund has started 2023 on the right foot. The Danish born in 2003, who arrived in the summer from Sturm Graz, spoke to Dazn’s microphones after the match in Bologna: “It was difficult to make the three points, also because we hadn’t won for a long time, but we worked hard and tonight the result came – explained Hojlund – My goals?To do well with Atalanta, conquer a place in Europe and be increasingly involved in the team”.

to battle

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Captain Rafael Toloi, European champion with Mancini’s Italy, also spoke to Dazn: “We must try to improve the approach to matches: the first half had a difficult start but in the second we showed great character, immediately finding the goal and deserving to win – explained Toloi -. The championship is difficult. We need to fight and today we did. The path is the right one.” Then a thought about Hojlund. “A young man with great physical strength and speed: he has everything to become a great striker,” said Toloi.