Percassi: ‘Atalanta proud to play Bayern Munich, now Inter difficult too’
Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi insists the club and fans are ‘proud’ to have played Bayern Munich in the Champions League Round of 16, and today have another tough test with Inter.
It kicks off at San Siro at 14.00 GMT (15.00 CET).
La Dea have hit serious problems over the last few weeks, as they were held 2-2 by Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-final, picked up just one point from two Serie A rounds, then were hammered 6-1 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League Round of 16.
Atalanta won’t forget their roots
Despite that result, even the Germans were impressed with the way the Atalanta supporters continued to cheer on their players and applaud them in Bergamo.
“Atalanta deserved on the field to achieve a fantastic objective, which is reaching the Champions League Round of 16,” Percassi told DAZN Italia.
“When facing one of the best teams in the whole world, we were unable to give our best for a set of different reasons. Despite that, the response of the fans shows how much getting here was something the crowd appreciated, and we are very proud of that.”
Atalanta were after all the only Italian side to make it to the Champions League last 16, despite having a significantly smaller budget than most of the other contenders.
Now they are in the Coppa Italia semi-final and still hoping to finish in the top four to get back into the Champions League.
“We would be happy every year to achieve targets like this. We know what our DNA is, we are working to keep doing well,” noted the chief.
Giorgio Scalvini is back in defence after injury, while Ederson and Charles De Ketelaere return to the bench for the first time in March, but Giacomo Raspadori is still out of action.
“Bayern Munich represented a slip-up that we must reflect on, today we are facing the Serie A leaders in a huge stadium, and it will be another very difficult match. We’ve seen in recent years how hard it is to pick up points in this stadium.
“It will require the best Atalanta, so whatever happens we want to leave here without regrets, aware that Inter are a very strong side.”
Inter are something of a taboo for La Dea, unbeaten on home turf against their Lombardy rivals since 2014.