© Imago
Four days before the Champions League clash at FC Bayern, Atalanta snatched a point away to leaders Inter Milan in Serie A. Raffaele Palladino’s side fell behind to a goal from Pio Esposito in the 26th minute, but levelled through a close-range goal from Nikola Krstovic in the 82nd minute. Despite a shove by substitute Kamaldeen Sulemana on Inter defender Denzel Dumfries, the goal stood – much to the displeasure of the Milan side. La Dea therefore came away with a point but are now winless in five games and remain stuck in seventh place in the table.
Raffaele Palladino saw a much-improved performance from his team against Inter Milan compared to Tuesday. | © Imago
“That was a really good draw against Inter here in Milan,” said Palladino after the final whistle, adding that he’d explicitly thanked him team for it. After the defeat on Tuesday, his team “desperately wanted to show a strong reaction – and the boys did just that”, stressed the coach, reflecting on the 6-1 loss to Bayern. “They immediately pushed away all the negative feelings that could still have been there after that game,” he said, praising his team’s ability to keep picking themselves up. “Every time we’ve suffered a defeat, they’ve given an immediate response.”
However, they’ll need an extra special performance if they’re to threaten Bayern’s place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night. The Bergamo outfit may have looked a lot steadier defensively at Inter than they were in the first leg against FC, but they were still largely ineffective in attack – as proven by the expected goals figure of 1.1 and just eight attempts on goal. That doesn’t offer too much hope for the meeting in Munich, especially as Atalanta face a mammoth task of overturning a five-goal deficit. Nevertheless, Palladino is coming out fighting: “Atalanta are mentally ready.”
The facts on the last-16 second leg between FC Bayern and Atalanta:
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