Atalanta director Luca Percassi celebrates Gian Piero Gasperini’s 400th match at the club along with the coach and Ademola Lookman’s ‘prestigious’ Ballon d’Or nominations.
The game with Verona kicks off at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.
La Dea saw their run of three consecutive victories ended by a frustrating Wednesday night 0-0 draw against Celtic in the Champions League.
Squad rotation is kept to a minimum this evening, despite the fact there is a midweek round coming up against Monza, then the trip to leaders Napoli next Sunday.
Percassi sees Atalanta progress
“We look at the table, but more to the points up for grabs. There is a very important game this evening, we know the difficulties it entails, as do all matches in Serie A or the Champions League,” Percassi told Sky Sport Italia.
The Ballon d’Or ceremony is coming up next week and Atalanta are for the first time represented, both with striker Lookman as a player and coach Gasperini following their Europa League triumph.
“It is fantastic, extraordinary that they are protagonists for Atalanta and these nominations show all the great work done at the club. It is prestigious and wonderful for us.”
Gasperini is marking a real milestone this evening, making his 400th appearance on the bench after 206 victories, 93 draws and 100 defeats, scoring 770 goals and conceding 478.
“This is his ninth season with us and I think that’s almost unique in Europe. As a family, we are very fond of the coach, as he is with us. I think today is his 400th match with Atalanta and if we are achieving these figures, it means we’ve done something truly significant.”
Atalanta have not just grown in terms of results, but off the field too with their own stadium now fully built and one of the best youth academies in Europe. It was put to Percassi that this allowed them to move so quickly on the market when Gianluca Scamacca was injured, within 48 hours snatching up Mateo Retegui from Genoa.
“In this journey, the stadium and the youth academy came around with hard work. The stadium in particular was a fantastic journey and achievement. On the transfer market, we try to be ready for anything that might happen. Gianluca’s injury was totally unexpected, so we tried to resolve it with a player we had always appreciated and liked. When the situation developed, we dived in and didn’t hold back financially – unfortunately!”
Finally, Percassi was asked about rumours that Atalanta are watching Monza midfielder Daniel Maldini as a potential new target.
“He is a young lad with enormous talent, heralding from a prestigious family that represented the best of Italian football, so naturally Atalanta are watching him. We’re happy he is doing well, but hope he doesn’t do too well in his next match, seeing as it is against us! He is someone we are monitoring.”
