Gian Piero Gasperini, the manager of Atalanta, did not hold back when discussing the star player Ademola Lookman after the team’s defeat in the Champions League.
Atalanta, the reigning champions of the Europa League, were eliminated from the 2025 Champions League after suffering a shocking 3-1 loss at home to Club Brugge. The final score overall was 5-2 in favour of the Belgian team, which eliminated Atalanta from the competition.
After suffering a defeat by a score of 2-1 in the first leg, the Serie A team was faced with an uphill battle in their home stadium. This situation was made even more difficult by the fact that they were trailing by a score of 3-0 at the halftime of Tuesday’s match.
Immediately following the shocking defeat, Atalanta manager Gasperini addressed the media about his team’s performance. In a scathing rant, he revealed that he was unhappy with the performance of star player Lookman.
After scoring the only goal for his team in the match, Lookman attempted to spark what could have been a significant comeback early on in the second half of the game.
Lookman decided that it was his time to shine as he decided to take the ball ahead of teammates Charles De Ketelaere and Mateo Retegui shortly after the Nigerian scored a goal. This gave Atalanta the opportunity to further eat into Club Brugge’s three-goal lead. Lookman’s decision came shortly after the Nigerian scored the goal.
Gasperini was not pleased with the fact that his attempt was saved by Simon Mignolet, the custodian for Club Brugge, and the 27-year-old player was disappointed by this development.
“Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” the Italian manager said in a press conference held after the football match.
Even in training, he has a truly dismal record; he only manages to convert a small percentage of his opponents. Lookman, in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring, decided to take the ball, and that was a gesture that I did not appreciate at all. Retegui and De Ketelaere were present, but Lookman’s decision to take the ball was disappointing.
The humiliating panenka attempt that Lookman made against West Ham United in the 98th minute of the game while he was playing for Fulham in the year 2020 was one of the six penalties that Lookman has taken throughout his career. He has scored four of them and missed two of them.
In addition, Gasperini criticised Rafael Toloi, the captain of Atalanta, who was shown a humiliating red card late in the match for pushing Maxim De Cuyper, a defender for Club Brugge.
In addition, Gasperini stated, “That was a very unpleasant incident, and we must never lose our heads.”
“Atalanta must leave the Champions League with dignity, having played great games against the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Barcelona.”
