Gian Piero Gasperini is happy with the way his team faced the leaders of the table, Inter. It ended 0-0, but it was an entertaining match between two top-quality teams: “Good match, well done, lads”. Here is his post-match reaction.

Gian Piero Gasperini, have you congratulated your players?

“Yes, of course. They deserved it. The fans also paid tribute to them and it was beautiful. It was a good display, well done to them!”

It wasn’t an easy game, as Atalanta are in a state of emergency.

“Yes, but we played the game we wanted against a very strong team. We forced them to change their habit, which is often to dominate a game. We pinned them back into their half. Then there were incidents on both sides. We had a few more in our favour. We had a few more chances, but the goalkeepers did well too, as there were several incidents.”

Do you regret that you didn’t win it?

“Yes, absolutely. Yes, because we could have also lost it, but we came really close [to winning it] and, at some point, we felt we had something extra.”

How do Atalanta get out of this match?

“First of all, we are proud we played on par with this team and perhaps even better. It’s clear these games boost your self-esteem and give you the awareness that you can have it out when you go head-to-head.”

Atalanta also did change a bit on the pitch.

“We tried all these things many times, even last year, for instance, several times. This time we were even more attack-minded. Not the players, who were midfielders, but in terms of positions, we were even more advanced. That paid off, it’s a pity we didn’t score.”

It’s difficult to choose the Atalanta MVP of this match. Handanovic was named MVP of the game and that says a lot. It’s difficult to find the best Atalanta player from tonight’s game.

“Yes, I agree. Well done to all, from the goalkeeper, who did very well in some situations, to all, those who came on included. It was a match in which everybody had to do their best to deliver such performance.”

What adjective would you pick to describe your team?

“Very compact, very determined. Great sense of belonging, longing to get a result. We still want to always be one of the protagonists, to always play for one result and I really like that.”