I did not mean to offend Ademola Lookman – Gian Pierro Gasperini

It has been a very horrible week for Atalanta after Belgian side Club Brugge shocked the Bergamo-based club in the second leg of the play-off of the UCL.

The first leg ended 2-1 in favour of the Belgians at home and were ready to fight the Italians in Bergamo. Club Brugge took a 3-0 lead in the first half, much to the shock of football fans. Atlanta pulled one back early in the second half for Ademola Lookman. However, hope for a comeback was dashed when the Nigerian forward missed a penalty to reduce the deficit with the game ending 3-1 for Club Brugge.

Atalanta manager Gian Pierro Gasperini was not happy with Lookman missing the penalty and heavily criticised him in the post-match conference.

Football fans across the globe were not happy with how the coach singled out Lookman and criticised him.

Ahead of Atalanta’s Serie A match over the weekend at Empoli, Gasperini has explained that he did not mean to offend the Nigerian forward.

“Lookman felt offended, but I didn’t want to offend anyone. He entered with a fantastic approach against Club Brugge”, Gasperini said.

“If he starts training to improve on penalties… with his exceptional skills Ademola can become our first penalty taker”.

Lookman has been one of Atalanta’s best players since signing for them two seasons ago. He helped the club win the Europa League last season, where he scored a hattrick against Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin at the Aviva Sports Stadium.

It looks certain that they will settle the problem and look forward to challenging for the Serie A title because they are just five points behind leaders Napoli.