Raffaele Palladino ‘enjoyed myself’ watching Atalanta’s 1-1 draw with Roma, feeling either team could win it, but the Coppa Italia semi-final is ‘the most important match of the season.’
La Dea knew that this was their last real chance to challenge for a Champions League spot, and they had taken the lead at the Stadio Olimpico with the first Nikola Krstovic effort on goal.
However, Mario Hermoso’s acrobatic volley cancelled it out on the stroke of half-time, and the defender almost got a second when his header bounced off the crossbar.
Marco Carnesecchi made several big saves and was named Lega Serie A Man of the Match, but this point was not the birthday present Palladino had hoped for.
Palladino relishing Atalanta performances
“It was a good game of football played between two teams who wanted to win, playing with intensity, courage and quality. I’ll be honest, I enjoyed myself tonight,” Palladino told Sky Sport Italia.
“We took on a team that was eager to beat us, especially as we beat them earlier this season. Coming here into this atmosphere with such spirit was not easy, so I congratulated my players.
“It was an open match and frankly either side could’ve won it, as we had the chances to go 2-0 up, and then they had opportunities in the second half. We take this point and feel it is probably the right result.”
This result means Atalanta remain in seventh place and four points adrift of Roma in sixth, so it will be a struggle to make up that ground now.
Winning the Coppa Italia could therefore be their best chance of qualifying for the Europa League, and they host Lazio in Wednesday’s semi-final, after the first leg ended 2-2.
“I won’t say this was a wasted opportunity, as we closed one point from Como and stayed at the same distance from Roma. We won’t give up to the last game, I think against Juventus and Roma they were two really good performances, showing we’ll fight it out with anyone,” noted Palladino.
“Now the semi-final of the Coppa Italia is probably our most important match of the season so far, we really want to get into the Final.”
Atalanta made three changes at half-time, two of them in defence, so what was behind that decision?
“Giorgio Scalvini had a knock to the hip and was struggling to keep up the pace of the game, while Kolasinac had a slight muscular twinge and we will need to evaluate it over the next few days. With an eye on Wednesday, I didn’t want to take any risks.
“Charles De Ketelaere wasn’t sharp today, as he had flu earlier this week and didn’t have his usual energy. We had trouble with our defenders in the first half, but they were largely physical issues.”
Gianluca Scamacca was expected to start this evening, but Krstovic got the nod and scored the opening goal. Could they play together?
“I have faith in both strikers, they will prove themselves when given the chance. I needed players with different characteristics today, as Nikola can attack the space more, whereas Gianluca tends to connect with the midfield. Whether they can play together next season, I don’t know, we’ve got time to think about that.”
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