Palladino: ‘Atalanta and Lazio played entertaining 2-2 draw’
Raffaele Palladino relished the ‘entertaining’ 2-2 draw with Lazio that leaves Atalanta within reach of the Coppa Italia Final. ‘It’s wonderful to be in three competitions, but very tiring.’
La Dea are being stretched increasingly thin, as the only Italian representative left in the Champions League, also participating in the Coppa Italia semi-final, and pushing for a top four finish in Serie A.
They certainly do not lack determination, though, fighting back twice from a goal down to earn a 2-2 first leg semi-final draw away to Lazio.
Mario Pasalic cancelled out the Fisayo Dele-Bashiru dinked finish, then Yunus Musah responded immediately to Boulaye Dia pouncing on a Pasalic howler.
Palladino’s Atalanta never give in
“I think we had a very good game against a strong opponent. It was balanced, entertaining to watch, and when you face Sarri’s teams it is always enjoyable, as they have quality and can cause problems at any moment,” Palladino told Sport Mediaset.
“We had chances early on, a disallowed goal and hit the crossbar, we should’ve been more incisive in the final third. After the break, we went behind twice, but the team did well to get back into a deserved draw, one we believed in to the end.
“It was only the first half of this semi-final, the second will be on our turf.”
It all goes down to the second leg, which will be in Bergamo on April 21 or 22, the winners of that tie will go on to face either Inter or Como in the Final in May.
“The tie is open, it’s 50-50 and we want to reach the Final. We’re in front of our own fans, but that is a while away, so we’ll gain confidence from this performance,” continued Palladino.
Atalanta have shown they refuse to give in, turning around the 2-0 first leg defeat with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to beat them 4-1 in the second leg.
“Being in three competitions in March is something to be very proud of, in the Champions League Round of 16, Coppa Italia semi-final and Serie A, it’s wonderful, but also very tiring.”
This was the second consecutive game on target for Musah, as the USMNT midfielder had struggled to make an impact following his arrival from Milan.
“Musah is a player who hadn’t played much when I arrived, as he had Ederson and De Roon ahead of him, but undoubtedly he’s had more space with Ederson out injured. I told the lads that I need all of them to step up, especially off the bench, as Musah did it well against Sassuolo and again today,” confirmed the Atalanta coach.
“I really like Lazar Samardzic, he gets between the lines and has quality, but the problem is he needs to improve the level of choices and shots in the final third. He has what it takes, we need him to step up a level in his finishing, as he has goals and assists in his capabilities.”