Atalanta are at the BayArena to face Bayer 04 Leverkusen and to snatch a pass to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. As for Atalanta, they have two out of three possible results at hand in order to get through the round but as Gian Piero Gasperini claimed in his exclusive one-to-one interview: “It will be a wide-open match”.

Gian Piero Gasperini, Atalanta are at the BayArena having two results out of three in favour. It’s a small advantage.

“Yes, it’s a small advantage, and, as in all matches, we shouldn’t overthink it. We have to try to play our game. We know this team very well. We’ve seen Bayer [Leverkusen]’s quality. It will be a wide-open game, it’s all to play for.”

You’ve already faced them in the first leg, will anything change compared to the match that took place at the Gewiss Stadium?

“I don’t think there will be many changes in terms of tactics. It’s clear that some elements will be assessed throughout the match. It’s true that having a small advantage is important but we shouldn’t alter our features.”

The 90 minutes at the Gewiss Stadium flew by, which was also due to the speed of the game. Will tomorrow’s game be the same?

“Probably. Bayer Leverkusen have great enthusiasm and attack with a lot of players. They’ve got speed and technique. So, we’ll have to be great at holding their strength and create chances as we did in the first leg.”

The away end is sold out. There will be about 1300 people from Bergamo in the away end, but, surely, there will be a lot more.

“At last! It’s positive! As soon as I arrived in Bergamo, one of the goals was to qualify for a European tournament to give our fans the chance to travel and follow their team in Europe, in these magnificent stadiums. Unfortunately, this was not possible for several months due to what happened. Now, finally, there’s an opportunity to be here and they have seized it.”