Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has defended his decision to leave Ademola Lookman out of the starting lineup in his side’s 2-0 Supercoppa Italiana defeat to Inter Milan, insisting it was a calculated squad management decision rather than an experiment.
The Nigerian forward, who has been one of Atalanta’s standout performers this season, was surprisingly named among the substitutes alongside Charles De Ketelaere and Ederson for the semi-final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Gasperini instead handed starting opportunities to Nicolo Zaniolo, Lazar Samardzic and Giorgio Scalvini.
Softfootball understands Lookman entered the game in the 56th minute, shortly after Denzel Dumfries had given Inter the lead with a spectacular acrobatic finish. Despite his introduction, Atalanta failed to recover as Inter secured their place in the final.
Responding to criticism over his team selection, Gasperini insisted the timing was right to assess the depth of his squad.
I was not experimenting at all,
he told Sport Mediaset.
We have many players, we had a long and tough run of games. The Supercoppa came at the right time for us to verify players who contributed but played relatively little compared to others.
He added:
We were up against Inter in the semi-final and it was the right time to try this.”
Attention now shifts back to Serie A, where Atalanta remain firmly in contention for a historic first Scudetto, with Lookman expected to play a key role in the title race.
