Palladino: ‘Only half-time, Atalanta think positive, but Kovac protests too much’
Raffaele Palladino maintains Atalanta can turn the Champions League play-off around with Borussia Dortmund, as it’s ‘only the first half,’ and reveals the cause of tension with Nico Kovac.
It was a bad start in Dortmund, partly because kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes when the hosts were late getting to the stadium due to a traffic jam.
That didn’t seem to affect them, as they scored within three minutes thanks to Serhou Guirassy’s towering header, then the same player set up Maximilian Beier for 2-0 just before half-time.
Palladino trusts Atalanta can fight back
Atalanta were forced into changes in Dortmund, as this week both Giacomo Raspadori and Charles De Ketelaere were ruled out for at least a month by injuries.
“We mustn’t talk about who isn’t here, but instead concentrate on who did play,” Palladino told Sky Sport Italia.
“It’s a pity we were 1-0 down right from the start, because we knew Borussia Dortmund are a very good team with strong individuals who can attack the space, they put in a cross and we didn’t mark properly on that goal.”
Fabio Capello in the Sky Sport Italia studio warned that playing man for man with that Dortmund attack was a recipe for disaster.
“I agree with that analysis, it’s true that their strikers have a lot of technical and physical qualities,” replied Palladino.
“I was struck by their midfielders too, they are complete players. However, our mentality must be to have courage. We studied our opponents, these matches are also helpful to understand our strengths and their strengths.
“It won’t be easy to turn this around, but I believe, the fans will be pushing us on, and this is why we love football, because it gives you the opportunity to turn things around.”
Gianluca Scamacca made his return to the starting XI this evening, but seemed visibly rusty, as Nikola Krstovic was livelier when replacing him for the second half.
“We made too many errors and got stuck going down one flank, we were too predictable, too slow moving it around, but we did much better in the second half, with more possession, more movement, more options in attack, more spaces opening up.
“I got the feeling we were in a position to create something in attack, but we were lacking a little quality in the final third, with the final pass. There were things we didn’t do well tonight, we’ll analyse them with the lads and do better next time.
“Also don’t forget we were up against a strong side that is second in the Bundesliga, only six points behind Bayern Munich. I am sad about the result, but I also note they had only two shots on target and scored both of them. We have to think positive, our dream is to go through, and if we don’t manage it, we’ll know that we gave our all. There are many young players in this squad who gained experience from this for the future.”
It means La Dea have a mountain to climb in the second leg in Bergamo on Wednesday February 25, as they need to win by two clear goals just to force extra time in the Champions League play-off.
“This was just the first half, the second is on our home turf, and just as they put two goals past us this evening, we can do the same in Bergamo,” insisted Palladino.
“The lads know what we need to do, we will get back on our feet and certainly play the second leg with great intensity.”
There seemed to be some tension at the final whistle when Palladino stormed off and didn’t shake hands with Borussia Dortmund coach Kovac.
“I don’t like protesting, they were complaining for every single thing on the touchline. I try to leave the referees to do their job, in good and bad, so I just told him he ought to let the referees get on with it.”