Atalanta qualified for the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals after winning both legs against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Nerazzurri won 3-2 in Bergamo and triumphed 1-0 in Leverkusen thanks to a stoppage-time goal. There was a party atmosphere at the end of the match and Gian Piero Gasperini’s post-match reaction was: “We deserved it”.

Gian Piero Gasperini has accepted the invitation of the fans to jump with them, fair enough.

“Yes, it’s very satisfying. All these fans have finally been able to come to this stadium to see a European fixture and a victory. It’s only fair that they are celebrating.”

We knew it wasn’t going to be easy and it turned out to be a difficult match indeed. However, Atalanta kept on believing and fighting until the end. You didn’t give in and then Boga’s goal made you celebrate once for all.

“Yes, it’s true. We struggled a little in the second half but looking at both legs, the 1st one and today’s first half, we deserved to qualify. It’s clear that we suffered a lot in today’s second half, it was very difficult. We can do better but let’s enjoy this qualification!”

What did you like this evening?

“It’s easy to say the [team’s] commitment, self-denial, the sense of belonging. That’s fine. If you don’t have these values, which are fundamental, you fail to overcome these knockout fixtures against strong teams. You must have all these values. And we have them. While, on the technical level, it’s right that we do better.”

Now it’s time for the quarter-finals.

“It’s a great achievement. The quarter-finals are starting to be a great achievement of the season. We’ll see with the draw. As I’ve already said, this competition gets very significant [as it progresses], as there are great teams. We’ll see the draw, then we’ll think about it.”

Atalanta are among these great teams.

“Yes, undoubtedly. We’ve defeated Olympiacos then Bayer Leverkusen this evening. It’s a good result, a good achievement. These are difficult matches, for sure, and we’re having them in addition to a league campaign where we’re wasting a lot of energy. We’ll try to reach as many goals as possible, to stay in contention for everything. Now we have a game against Bologna, which is really close to this evening’s match, then we’ll try to do even better with the help of the break.”