Gian Piero Gasperini, who watched the match from the stands due to a one-match ban, saw a great Atalanta side go back to winning ways by beating Sampdoria 3-1. The first-half was balanced, while the second half was dominated by the Nerazzurri: “The team are doing well”.

Coach, is it better to watch the game from the touchline or the stands?

“I take fewer risks in the stands. Otherwise, I would have risked some incidents this evening too. It went well, anyway. We’ll see in the future. I could decide to stay in the stands, it wouldn’t be bad.”

3-1 and the game was killed off. You conceded one late goal against Udinese, while you definitively killed the game off here.

“That’s football. But the team proved to be in a good period of form even against Udinese. Of course, conceding in the 93rd minute was hard to swallow. But it’s okay. Even this evening, the team went 1-0 down but they kept their focus, stayed true to their system and turned the game around. The first half was a bit more balanced, we almost conceded the equaliser, but then, we could have finished it off earlier in the second half.”

Atalanta perform better away than at the Gewiss Stadium, as they get better results away.

“We undoubtedly score more points away, as the number shows. That is a fact. It’s clear that we absolutely have to overturn this trend if we want to be competitive. We have to be efficient and get results at home too. This is indispensable.”

Zapata scored a brace but then we’ve been told his first goal was an own goal. However, Zapata was there, just like Zappacosta’s assists. Then we got Iličić’s goal and the young players: Lovato started again and you also played Scalvini.

“Well, I would place emphasis on these two guys, as it was not easy. Lovato played the whole match showing good confidence. Scalvini showed an extraordinary character. Speaking of the other players… We are more used to them. Having two young players that are growing up like this is good for us. It’s clear that Lazio and Manchester United, who are our next opponents, have some quality forwards but this gives us good confidence for the remainder of the season.”