Atalanta boss Stefano Colantuono has admitted that his squad will need to give their all against Fiorentina on Sunday if they hope to earn a positive result.
The Orobici tactician has never been able to secure a Serie A win over a team led by Vincenzo Montella, having managed one draw and six losses against the Viola coach in his entire career, and he is now focused on turning his string of bad luck around by having his men take the field without any fear of their opponents, while also placing his faith in the Bergamo side’s new signings.
Colantuono spoke to Atalanta.it during his pre-match press conference on Friday about what he wants to see from La Dea in their away clash with Fiorentina and commented on his satisfaction with Atalanta’s new January arrivals.
“We know that our game with Fiorentina will be very difficult because they play well,” said the 52-year-old.
“They’re a team of great value and have been going through a wonderful period of form overall, but we can play our game by playing with the willingness to sacrifice everything, without any fear and only with courage.
“Even if our win over Cagliari was very important, we cannot feel safe or think that we’ve secured a good ranking yet. We need to get more points.
“We showed that we could put in a good performance against Fiorentina during our first meeting in Bergamo earlier this season, so to get a result in Florence would make it clear that we’re ready to compete.
“The market? We have been really good to immediately sign a great striker like Mauricio Pinilla. Then there is also Urby Emanuelson, who can make up for the absences of the injured Marcelo Estigarribia and Cristian Raimondi.
“Plus we’ve gotten back Andrea Masiello, who we can consider as a new purchase. The other teams have done their own dealings, but I think a lot of the teams will struggle with us, we are one of the sides that have perhaps done better.”
