Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was full of praise of Charles De Ketelaere following his match winning performance in the Coppa Italia. La Dea routed Sassuolo in a very one-sided 3-1 victory, courtesy of a brace from De Ketelaere and a solo effort from Aleksei Miranchuk. Teh victory sets up a quarter-final match with Milan, but speaking with Sky Sport Italia, Gasperini insisted that he and his team need to focus on their upcoming match with Roma first:
“We played a good game. In the Coppa Italia we saw that many predictions were overturned, matches must be played.”
“Milan? It will be a tour de force, but first there’s Roma in the league. With the Rossoneri it will be a knock out game, we’ll see who will win. Roma and AC Milan will be two very difficult matches that will mean a lot to us”.
“Playing so many matches? The danger is injuries, we have to manage mental and physical energies. We are recovering a lot of personnel.
“De Ketelaere? We’re very happy, he’s a boy who applies himself a lot. He wants to improve and grow, but today many players convinced me, including Holm. The loss of Lookman remains heavy, but we knew he would leave. We are in a good moment but we play so much that there is no time to rejoice that we have to get back on the pitch.”
