It’s the eve of Leipzig v Atalanta, the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. The team have arrived in Leipzig. Atalanta’s coach and wingback Hans Hateboer met the press at the Red Bull Arena. Here’s the exclusive one-to-one pre-match interview with Gian Piero Gasperini: “Leipzig are a solid team”.
Gian Piero Gasperini, everything is set for this new two-legged tie against Leipzig, who you almost and should have faced a few years ago, and now it’s finally about time.
“Yes, two years ago we came really close to [facing them] in the Champions League semifinal. A few things have changed since then, both for us and for them. We’re encountering in the Europa League quarter-finals, which is a very prestigious competition that could take us to the top”.
It’ll be a tough, difficult match between two sides that love attacking.
“Yes, although Leipzig have changed their attitude a bit after appointing this coach. They’re a very solid team, with great players and a strong club that works hard to make this team grow. It’ll be a good test for us to compete against them.”
What do you expect from tomorrow’s match?
“It’ll be a different match from the one against [Bayer 04] Leverkusen, even though they [RB Leipzig and Bayer 04 Leverkusen] are of a similar level on the table, but RB Leipzig are more physical. They surely have some talented forwards, such as Olmo, who we have already met when he played for Dinamo Zagabria. Nkunku also plays for them and has scored a lot of goals. However, it could be more difficult to find a breakthrough against Leipzig, whilst the match against Bayer Leverkusen was more open”.
How are Atalanta doing? Have you moved on after the game against Napoli?
“As I said after the match, the Atalanta side that played Napoli were in good shape. We delivered a great performance. We’ll surely have to be more alert and focused tomorrow, as it really was a pity to concede two goals in the first half. One [okay], two were too much, as they jeopardized our game, despite we provided a good performance”.