Atalanta Coach Gasperini Downplays Row with Ademola Lookman

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini has clarified his comments on Ademola Lookman's penalty-taking abilities, stating they were not meant to be offensive.

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini has clarified his comments about Ademola Lookman's penalty-taking abilities, stating that he never intended to offend the striker. Gasperini's remarks came after Atalanta's disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League playoff tie, which resulted in the Italian side being eliminated with a 5-2 aggregate loss.

Gasperini had expressed his surprise that Lookman took the penalty, suggesting that he is “one of the worst penalty takers” he has ever seen. The coach felt that with Charles De Ketelaere and Mateo Retegui on the pitch, one of them should have taken the penalty instead. Lookman, who scored 15 goals this season and was instrumental in Atalanta's Europa League victory last season, managed to pull back one goal for the Italian side when they were trailing 3-0.

Lookman responded to Gasperini's comments on Instagram, expressing his hurt and disappointment. He felt that the coach's remarks were “deeply disrespectful” and singled him out unfairly. Gasperini's clarification suggests that his intention was not to criticize Lookman personally, but rather to question the decision-making process surrounding the penalty.

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini downplayed the controversy surrounding his comments on Ademola Lookman's penalty-taking abilities during a press conference on Saturday. Gasperini pointed out a similar incident in Udinese's 1-0 Serie A win over Lecce, where Lorenzo Lucca scored a penalty despite not being the designated taker. “It had an extraordinary impact, everything that came afterwards... mine was not meant to be an offensive sentence,” Gasperini explained.

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Gasperini expressed his desire to see Lookman become a more confident penalty taker, highlighting the importance of teamwork in such situations. “I would have liked a strong player like Lookman to have made a gesture towards De Ketelaere saying 'come on keep the ball, put it in',” Gasperini said. “He can become a penalty taker, that would be an additional goal-scoring ability... I always speak in front of the whole team, it has never touched the club. He felt offended, I didn't want to offend anyone.”

Looking ahead to Atalanta's upcoming match against Empoli, Gasperini acknowledged the challenges posed by the relegation-threatened side. “Empoli come from a streak of difficult results, all the games I've seen they've performed very well,” Gasperini said. “They are a good team, with a good quality of play, with an excellent coach, who are playing for salvation. I remember the first game, I expect a balanced, difficult match. We only have one goal, we have to do our best.”