Atalanta slump not linked to contract talks, says Gasperini

Gian Piero Gasperini rubbished suggestions that Atalanta’s mediocre tally successful Serie A was down to him not renewing his existent declaration with the club.

Gasperini watched connected arsenic his broadside were beaten 1-0 by Lazio connected Sunday, their 3rd consecutive league defeat, arsenic their bid for Champions League shot took different hit.

Indeed, Atalanta person present mislaid 3 Serie A games without scoring for the archetypal clip since betwixt September and October 2014, erstwhile Stefano Colantuono was successful charge.

They person besides gone without scoring successful 4 consecutive location matches successful Serie A for the archetypal clip since betwixt November and December 2004.

Gasperini has been astatine Atalanta since 2016, taking the nine from a mid-table broadside to European football, helping them to the Europa League rubric past season.

His existent declaration runs until June 2025 with an enactment to widen it by a year, with the Italian saying successful February that helium intended to enactment astatine the helm adjacent season.

But erstwhile asked whether those words had impacted his team’s results, Gasperini told Sky Sports: “This is stupid.

“After those words we won 5-0 against Empoli and 4-0 against Juventus. It seems a convenient happening to propulsion successful similar this.

“Last play I signed successful August, aft the archetypal crippled of the championship. This happening has thing to bash with it, it is an effort to look for alibis.”

3 & 0 – #Atalanta person mislaid astatine slightest 3 #SerieA games successful a enactment without scoring for the archetypal clip since September-October 2014, nether Stefano Colantuono (four successful that case). Darkness.#AtalantaLazio

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 6, 2025

Atalanta inactive beryllium 3rd successful the standings with 7 games of their play remaining, but it was a time to hide astatine the Gewiss Stadium.

There was besides a mix-up implicit their substitutions, with Ademola Lookman accidently replaced by Lazar Samardzic successful the 74th infinitesimal with his squad chasing a goal.

“Ederson was expected to travel off, we made a mistake with the numbers. Today wasn’t our day,” Gasperini said. “We weren’t capable to intervene earlier Lookman came off.”

Atalanta had started the play successful good form, starring the array from Inter and Napoli, but person since dropped further adrift of Serie A’s apical two.

They stay successful the apical 4 connected 58 points, but the likes of Bologna, Juventus and Lazio are each closing connected a Champions League berth for adjacent season.

“Going from the Scudetto imagination to this magnitude is right, this is the magnitude of Atalanta,” Gasperini told DAZN.

“We are warring for 3rd and 4th place. We person to find enthusiasm by knowing that this has ever been the goal. We person 7 games to play, we are inactive successful it.”