Atalanta, injury factor. Gasp has his men numbered

Three defeats in a month and a half, after a quarter with only one defeat (against Real Madrid). Five draws in the last six weeks, after a triumphant quarter with fifteen victories between the league and the Champions League. TheAtalanta from Christmas onwards he slowed down, with only two successes, the numbers say, due to the many physical problems who have seized the perfect game of the Nerazzurri in the previous quarter.

First Retegui's Christmas injury, which cost him an initial run of three draws and a defeat in the Super Cup in Arabia against Inter. Then Kossounou's, then the flurry of injuries in defense and attack which forced the Goddess to intervene in the last days of market to beef up the squad, urgently bringing in Austrian full-back Stefan Posch and Italian striker Daniel Maldini. "We weren't thinking of intervening," explained Nerazzurri CEO Luca Percassi on Wednesday evening, "fortunately the market was open. We're very happy with the guys who have arrived: Maldini is a guy who fits into Atalanta's philosophy." The two new grafts they will serve to plug the emergencies, especially the defensive one where the blanket is very short, but in the meantime the Goddess has inevitably slowed down, seeing the goal of the Italian Cup vanish and losing ground in the race for the championship. A drop in results that is a direct consequence of the too many absences in the last month.

"In ten days our world has collapsed, we have lost three players like Scalvini, Scamacca and Kossounou for the whole season and three more for a few weeks: Carnesecchi, Kolasinac and Lookman. Being out for a couple of weeks means missing 4 or 5 games. But despite this, the lads are commendable, because we are facing a tour de force playing high-level games against opponents who are always worthy", underlined Gasperini, forced to count the absentees daily. "For Saturday in Verona - he added - it will not be easy to recover any of the three less serious injuries, I hope for Wednesday in Bruges". The coach is especially counting on recovering Lookman as soon as possible, the most impactful player: he will try to be there on Wednesday in Belgium, but it is not a given. The recovery of Carnesecchi is easier, another determining factor with his miracles between the posts: in the last two games we have seen the difference in going from a Martian "all-stopper" like the Rimini player to Rui Patricio.

Meanwhile, yesterday Giorgio Scalvini underwent surgery at Humanitas in Rozzano, performed by Professor Castagna and perfectly successful, for glenohumeral stabilization of the left shoulder with a modified Latarjet technique. From today he will begin his long rehabilitation program, expected to last three months.