Atalanta Coach Explains Key Reason for Benching Lookman in Supercoppa Loss to Inter Milan
- Ademola Lookman was not named in the starting XI for Atalanta in their Supercoppa semi-final defeat to Inter Milan
- The newly crowned CAF Player of the Year started from the bench as Atalanta were knocked out of the cup competition
- Lookman has been in phenomenal form for Atalanta this season and was recently named in the Serie A Team of the Year
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Atalanta took a big risk in their Supercoppa clash against Inter Milan by benching some of their key players in the semi-final game including Ademola Lookman.
The Bergamo club were looking to win their first trophy of 2025 but suffered a major setback after falling to a humble defeat to rivals Inter Milan on Thursday night.
Source: Getty Images
According to ESPN, Denzel Dumfries' second-half brace helped the reigning Italian champions defeat Atalanta 2-0 in Riyadh, advancing to the Italian Super Coppa final.
Atalanta’s defeat has been blamed on Gian Piero Gasperini’s risk-taking after the veteran manager benched the likes of Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere for the crucial game.
Gasperini opted to name both players among the substitutes while starting Lazar Samardzic, Nicolo Zaniolo, and Marco Brescianini against Inter Milan
Gasperini defends decision to bench Lookman
Meanwhile, Gasperini has opened up on his decision to drop Lookman from the starting XI during Atalanta’s loss to Inter Milan in the Super Cup semi-finals.
The CAF Men’s Player of the Year was brought into the encounter in the 59th minute after Atalanta had conceded and could not salvage the result for the Bergamo club.
Gasperini explained that his choice was motivated by squad rotation in order to keep Lookman and De Ketelaere from burnout.
"There couldn't have been a better occasion to give Brescianini, Samardzic and also Scalvini the opportunity to play, who are part of the squad but have had fewer opportunities as starters so far.
"It's not like Lookman and De Ketelaere can play 56 straight games for 90 minutes." Gasperini was quoted post-match by All Nigeria Soccer.
Lookman has made 22 appearances in all competitions for Atalanta this season, scoring 12 goals and creating six assists, per Transfermarkt.
Lookman hits new milestone in Atalanta’s defeat
Lookman made his 100th appearance for Atalanta during their Supercoppa Italiana defeat against Inter Milan, a remarkable achievement for the Super Eagles winger.
The 27-year-old forward joined Atalanta from German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig in the summer of 2022 and has quickly established himself as an important part of the Bergamo club.
Lookman guided Atalanta to win their first-ever European title last season when he scored a hat-trick as they defeated Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League.
Lookman caps 2024 with special award
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Lookman ended the year 2024 with another remarkable achievement in Italy after being named in the Serie A Team of the Year compiled by Whoscored.com.
The Atalanta forward led Atalanta to the final of the Coppa Italia and also helped the Bergamo club qualify for the UEFA Champions League last season.
Lookman also played a key role in helping Nigeria secure a silver medal at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
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Source: Legit.ng
