Gian Piero Gasperini believes that Atalanta’s list of absentees cost them dearly, but is still proud of his patched-up team following their 3-2 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Champions League.
La Dea had led the game 2-0 at half time on Wednesday night, thanks to goals from Mario Pasalic and Merih Demirel, but a second-half comeback completed by Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the Italian side third in Group F with four points at the half-way stage.
That being said, the Bergamaschi started the game with five first-team players missing, including the likes of captain Rafael Toloi and Berat Djimsiti, leaving Marten de Roon to deputise at centre-half and those out were missed sorely, according to Gasperini.
“We gave it out best, but the absence of key players weighed heavily,” Gasperini said in his post-match interview. “We went close, but teams like this [United] only need one chance to swing a game.
“They brought on loads of attackers, but if we’d have managed to go three one up we could have closed out the game. David De Gea did very well to stop that from happening.
“It was a great opportunity, but we missed some key players. A bit more physically would have helped, and having more players would have given us a better opportunity still. However, whoever played did well”.
