Enthusiasm, spirit and quality: special menu for a special night, signed by chef Gian Piero Gasperini, who is now a somewhat hackneyed nickname for dentist, even if it has brought good results. Liverpool in Bergamo, with the Gewiss packed to capacity, would already be a dream in itself, but the 3-0 at Anfield has transformed tomorrow evening’s match into something even more, because it has become a project: the Europa semi-final League, and at that point the boundaries of what is possible would have to be redrawn.
full stadium
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But Liverpool is always Liverpool and the difficulty – said the Nerazzurri coach – “lies already in meeting them, not in what can happen on the pitch: it’s the same team as a week ago, which has its own identity and before to lose against us, they were first in the Premier League and unbeaten in their lives. I expect the best Liverpool possible, so the key will be to play as if we were starting from 0-0: without thinking about the result of the first leg, focus only on this match, to play a great match, because that’s what it will take. It’s one of the most important matches in Atalanta’s history, if not the most important, and we can finally enjoy it in our full stadium, but these are the things that are said on the eve of the match: then you have to isolate yourself from certain emotions which are nice, especially for the fans, but other than the result. It’s the result that counts.”
great time
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And to achieve this result, says Gasperini, “everything will be important: the approach, of course, but also the continuation of the match, in the final of the match. The strength of a team is knowing how to go beyond the episodes, favorable or unfavorable. Which they are always there, and sometimes imponderable. Will I change something compared to a week ago to surprise them? Beyond tactical measures, which are always there on the pitch, what should we have strong, and should we have had it even if we had drawn at Anfield, or lost, it will be the feeling of being able to play for the Europa League. We have never lost: the spirit will be to consider losing unacceptable, to consider Liverpool beatable. We are in an excellent moment, we are not leaving anything on the way, in all of them three competitions in which we are competing. With all our strength: sometimes with more quality, sometimes less, but always with great enthusiasm and also quality, given that we often score season”.
DeRoon
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Alongside Gasperini, Marten De Roon: one of the faithful, the captain if – as is probable – Toloi does not start. “I don’t think just Bergamo, but all of Italy, will be with us tomorrow evening. There is a great desire to reach the semi-final, it’s my dream and that of all my teammates: it will be tough, Liverpool can score goals at any time , every episode can change the game, but there is a great desire to fight. They can put us in difficulty, but it has been seen that we can put them in difficulty too. We will give our best like at Anfield, with the same mentality and the same intensity. And let’s see where we get.”
