Palladino praise for Atalanta fight back: ‘Looking forward to Champions League’
Raffaele Palladino hails Atalanta for ‘never giving up’ after a fightback from 2-0 down to hold Udinese 2-2. ‘Now we are looking forward to the Champions League’ and Bayern Munich.
La Dea have been stretched a little thin in recent weeks, as they were coming off the Coppa Italia semi-final 2-2 draw with Lazio on Wednesday, and are preparing for next week’s European Round of 16 clash.
“I want to publicly thank my players for all they are giving during this packed season,” Palladino told DAZN.
“We could’ve crumbled when going 2-0 down, instead these lads showed the reaction of a great team, with energy and determination, refusing to give in.”
Palladino changed Atalanta after difficult start
When trailing to the goals from Thomas Kristensen and Keinan Davis against the run of play, the coach switched Atalanta to a 4-4-2 formation, using Gianluca Scamacca and Nikola Krstovic together.
It paid off, as Scamacca scored two headers in five minutes to equalise, although they also left themselves unbalanced and at risk of conceding another in stoppages.
“When you prepare a match, you always need to have two or three solutions in mind. Playing against a 3-5-2, you have different ways of opening them up,” explained Palladino.
There was tension at the final whistle when the referee ended the match without letting Atalanta take a corner, so Palladino stormed over to the fourth official to check the timer.
“I never protest with referees, I try to help them, so I went to the locker room afterwards and apologised to the referee and assistants for my tone. I also gave an explanation for my reaction, which was that Udinese had started wasting time since they first took the lead.
“We’ve got to improve this in Italy, we can’t let them get away with taking 40 seconds to take a throw-in. I expected a little more time at the end. The fans and the players want to see more football on the pitch.”
Atalanta are the only side still competing in Serie A, the Coppa Italia semi-finals and the Champions League Round of 16, where they will host Bayern Munich in the first leg on Tuesday evening.
“I liked the spirit above all else. We are fighting in three competitions, and even if we are playing lots of games, we won’t complain,” continued Palladino.
“There are some who do complain, but my team enjoys playing football, and we are looking forward to the Champions League.
“It’s not easy to go two goals down after a good performance to the only shots on target, but these lads never give in, they always want to prove themselves. We must face everyone with this attitude, with nothing to lose, starting in the Champions League next week.”