Atalanta claimed “An important win” against Olympiacos, as the Nerazzurri coach Gian Piero Gasperini said. Who qualifies for the UEFA Europa League round of 16 will be decided next week in Piraeus, but Atalanta have two results available.

Gian Piero Gasperini, it’s all to play for in Piraeus, but Atalanta have this little advantage, as you claimed this victory which perhaps is even more important than the 2-1 score itself.

“This win is important because this way we can have two possible results. It’s clear it’s all to play for in Athens, but this was predictable. The fact that we have this tiny advantage and having seen how the match started, it’s okay for us.”

Here it is. Atalanta like having these handicapped starts.

“We don’t like it actually, but we can’t help it. But then the quality comes out. This evening we scored two goals from dead-ball situations, at last, which also count. We feel we can play for it.”

Atalanta continued with what they showed against Juventus.

“Well, I have to say that we wasted a lot of energy in the match against Juventus. We perhaps saw it this evening. I decided to play some players having in mind that we’re travelling to Florence on Sunday. This team is always generous. They never leave a drop of sweat behind and they finally were rewarded, even if it was a close game.”

You said it: you’ll have Fiorentina, then the second leg against Olympiacos, matches every three days, you’re aware of that, but you have to manage this situation.

“We were a little afraid of this game because we’re playing in Florence at 12:30 CET in two days. We’ve got very little time. We’ll see. Then we’ll have four days to prepare for the second leg in Athens, and even against Sampdoria we’re playing on Monday. This will help us for sure.”

Do you have some extra certainty ahead of the return leg? You’ve faced Olympiacos, you got the hang of it.

“Yes. One thing is to watch these teams on a screen, another is to play them on the pitch, you get to have different and better parameters. We don’t have to be too much confident, as we’ll find a difficult atmosphere there. Olympiacos are top of their league. However, we also have the feeling that we’ll certainly have to produce a strong performance but that we can do this.”