Bayer Leverkusen-Atalanta, Gasperini: “Zapata towards the return”

From our correspondent Andrea Elefante

March 16
– LEVERKUSEN (GERMANY)

One evening to have no regrets: those of a week ago are enough, when Atalanta could have won (at least) 4-1 and found themselves wondering why the 3-2 that keeps the eighth at Bayer Leverkusen open, tomorrow at 6.45pm. But in any case it allows Gasperini’s team, as already in Athens in the “play-off” in February, to have two out of three results to qualify. And to keep dreaming: the fourth consecutive participation in the Champions League not through the fourth place in the championship – more and more complicated after the latest results – but thanks to the victory of this trophy.

small advantage

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For the moment it is still a dream, in fact: “It is only an eighth final – said Gian Piero Gasperini – a match to be played over the whole 90 ‘and if it will be needed in the 120’, but we are still very far from being able to imagine winning. Europa League: first let’s think about going through this round, and it will be anything but easy. If then along the way we see that it will be possible, maybe … “. Far from easy even if Bayer will not recover their best striker, Schick, and have lost compared to the first leg two important players, Wirtz and Frimpong: “Without hypocrisy, I say that I am very sorry for the serious injury to Wirtz: I had made a great impression, I wish him to return as soon as possible and maybe even stronger thanks to this unexpected event. But Bayer remains a very prepared, flexible team, which makes attacking play its best quality: very similar to many European teams, or to Napoli and Sassuolo to stay in Italy. It would be fine for us if we repeated the cliché of the first leg “. However, the coach says, “it should be forgotten: we have a small advantage due to the two out of three results that would qualify us. But tomorrow we start all over again, it’s another game”.

No dualism in the goal

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Resetting everything, but not the championship, says Gasperini: “I have already expressed myself on the reasons for our difficulties, and I won’t go back. But I’m not so disappointed: it’s a difficult, balanced Serie A and I think we are still in a position of prestige”. But that can be improved, says Remo Freuler with very Swiss pragmatism: “The latest results speak for themselves: in the championship we are not doing too well, so we want to change. In Europe, on the other hand, we are doing very well: and we must continue like this”. And to continue, or to go forward as much as possible in the Europa League, says the coach: “I don’t know if this could have repercussions on the championship, but I repeat: the advantages of playing in Europe are always greater. Also because if you pass the round it means that you are stronger “. And Atalanta can be even stronger if Musso repeats at the levels of his first European tests (“This story of dualism with Sportiello is invented, just because I played Sportiello a game: it’s not my thought”) and if Malinovskyi will confirm his European performance: “Ruslan is having a more troubled season than the past one: lately he has had more decisive moments and others in which he has been a little more in difficulty, but we realize his emotional moment. He is he has always been decisive, especially when he manages to “clean up” his game a little: surely at this moment we need the best Malinovskyi “.

near the return of zapata

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And also of the best Zapata, but the time to see him again may not be so far away: “He is recovering well, we hope his return is close. For now he trains well in the gym, we will have to see the answers when he returns to the field but he is plausible to be able to get it back in April and therefore we hope for the last month and a half of the season “.