Atalanta’s 2-0 Champions League victory over Liverpool at Anfield was ‘the best victory ever’, thrilled head coach Gian Piero Gasperini told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Gasperini’s smile said more than a thousand words ever could as the final whistle blew on Merseyside.
The former Inter Milan coach described Liverpool as ‘exceptional’ before the group-stage clash but, on Wednesday night, it was his side who were deserving of such superlatives.
Three weeks after the most miserable night of Gasperini’s tenure, as Diogo Jota ran riot during a 5-0 win in Bergamo, an out-of-sorts Atalanta side ripped up the form book and produced a timely reminder about why they became almost everyone’s second team last term.
The mercurial Papu Gomez brilliantly set up Josip Ilicic’s opener on the hour mark and played a major role in Atalanta’s second too, as swashbuckling left-back Robin Gosens popped up in the middle of the penalty area unmarked.
When you consider that Liverpool are unbeaten in 64 Premier League games at Anfield, and haven’t lost at home by more than one goal since 2015, Atalanta’s achievement looks even more impressive.
“Maybe it’s the best victory ever in terms of prestige. It has to give us confidence. We played a quality match,” Gasperini explained after his 200th game in charge of Le Dea went better than anyone could have expected.
“Find me one or two (players) who played badly… they all played a unique game.
“We must play without stress, without feeling external pressure. Atalanta must find the satisfaction of being in this competition. The only big regret is not experiencing this close to our fans.
“We certainly played a great game, we were able to express our concepts in the best possible way. (Liverpool) changed some players compared to the first leg, even if after the 1-0 they brought on all the big names, and we scored the second. In the end I think it’s a well-deserved result.”
A host of injuries and absences certainly took their toll but Jurgen Klopp will still be concerned about the way Liverpool gifted chances at one end and failed to create a thing at the other.
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