Atalanta pick up from where they left off, with a victory, as they beat Fiorentina at the Gewiss Stadium thanks to Lookman’s goal assisted by Muriel. The game against the Viola was Gian Piero Gasperini’s 299 match in charge of Atalanta, equalling Emiliano Mondonico’s record. The Atalanta coach’s thought on the match was: “Beautiful victory, we deserved it”.

Gian Piero Gasperini, where should we start with? With the victory over Fiorentina or with your 299 games in charge of Atalanta?

“Let’s start with the victory, as it was a good one. We deserved it, with a team that had a great spirit. They were eager to win, to change our home trend. I’m very satisfied with all the players’ performance, who contributed to this win. This game keeps us on top of the league table and it’s so satisfying. I am just as proud of my record, but this is personal. I’m really happy about this, I’m happy to have equalled the record of Mondonico, whom I got the opportunity to get to know. As I said many times, he deeply loved Atalanta and rooted for us when I came here, his support was genuine”.

The game against Fiorentina was difficult but you faced it well. You stuck together, being compact, focused and determined and you brought it home, in this respect too.

“All games are difficult. As time wore on, I felt we had more energy than them and that we could win the game. In the final minutes, we had some clear-cut chances to finish it off. We didn’t convert them, so we had to grit our teeth until the end. However, we deserved this victory”.

There were many young players on the pitch.

“This is also satisfying, as this team is changing a lot. Today we had Soppy, Scalvini, Okoli [in the starting XI] and then Højlund came on, alongside all the others and those who came off the bench, who also did very well. Playing these young players and winning these games help them build self-esteem and grow”.

Being top of the league on 20 points after 8 games and being the best defence in the league boosts someone’s confidence for sure.

“Yes, undoubtedly. No one thought we would be in this position on the table after eight games. However, this pink shirt [Maglia Rosa] gives us some extra energy, so we defend it. Now we’ll head to Udine, to visit the other team [Udinese] who had an outstanding start to the season. We’ll prove ourselves against them, it’ll be a good fixture”.

We know what you’ll do tomorrow. You’ll watch the Udinese game.

“Yes, of course. [I’ll do that] to see their performance. We’ve already seen them, they’ve had a fantastic campaign so far and won games against solid teams. We know it’s going to be difficult, but we’ll go there in the best way”.