Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has cursed Atalanta’s schedule ahead of their meeting with Celtic in just over a fortnight.
The veteran Italian boss isn’t happy with the number of games his side are currently playing, explaining that their hefty schedule will lead to natural dips in performance, such as against Como a few weeks ago when they surprisingly lost 3-2 on home turf.
The Bergamo side have since bounced back with emphatic wins over Shakhtar Donetsk and Genoa.
Speaking after his team’s recent 5-1 trouncing of the latter, Gasperini expressed his thoughts about the current fixture timetable.
“We are in a good period of form, we beat Shakhtar, but we still see moments like against Como when we just fall apart,” he said (DAZN via RecordSport).
“We are playing every three days, there’s going to be some dips in energy levels, but when we’re on it like this evening [against Genoa], we can fight it out with anyone.
“The timing isn’t great. Even before Como, we had some good performances against Arsenal and Fiorentina, so there have been definite improvements.”
Avoiding another European hammering will be a key objective for Celtic when they travel to Italy in a few weeks.
The Hoops were thrashed 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund last Tuesday; a similar result against last season’s Europa League winners cannot be afforded.
Atalanta are in fine fettle ahead of the league phase matchday three clash, for which Brendan Rodgers refuses to change his style.
The Parkhead boss admitted last Friday that he will not change his tactical set-up for games against significant European sides.
Not switching up has been his downfall in previous seasons, and saw Celtic take some heavy European scalps – fans can only hope he begins to learn his lesson.
