Atalanta ahead Ademola Lookman has printed an extended private assertion defending himself after his supervisor Gian Piero Gasperini known as him “one of many worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen”.
Lookman had been on the pitch for 34 second-half seconds when he lowered the deficit for Atalanta throughout their Champions League knockout tie with Membership Brugge on Tuesday night time. The Italian outfit misplaced the primary leg in Bruges 2-1, which Lookman missed by means of harm, and had been trailing 5-1 on mixture by the point he emerged off the bench.
The returning winger had the prospect to double his particular person tally with a 61st-minute penalty solely to see his low, laborious effort parried by former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
Atalanta, who had been ranked as exterior favourites to win the Champions League by many, finally crashed out on Tuesday. “Lookman was not purported to take that penalty,” Gasperini fumed after the sport.
“He has a frankly horrible file even in coaching, he converts only a few of them. [Mateo] Retegui and [Charles] De Ketelaere had been there, however Lookman in a second of enthusiasm after scoring determined to take the ball and that was a gesture I didn’t recognize in any respect.”
After an evening to stew on his supervisor’s dispiriting feedback, Lookman took to social media to ship his response. “It saddens me on a day like this to have to jot down this assertion – most of all due to what we now have achieved collectively as a crew and as a metropolis,” the match-winner from final yr’s Europa League remaining wrote on Instagram.
“Being singled out within the method I’ve been not solely hurts however feels deeply disrespectful, not least due to the immense laborious work and dedication I’ve all the time put in each day to assist carry success to this membership and to the unimaginable followers of Bergamo.
“In fact, I’ve handled many tough moments throughout my time right here – nearly all of which I’ve by no means spoken about as a result of for my part the crew should all the time be protected and should come first. This makes what occurred final night time much more hurtful.
“Together with our unimaginable followers, we as a crew are hurting too with final night time’s end result. Throughout the match the designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty; and to help the crew I took duty within the second to take action.
“Life’s about challenges and turning ache into energy which I will proceed to do.”
Lookman was closely linked with a transfer to Juventus over the summer time and did not seem in Atalanta’s first three fixtures of the season whereas that saga was nonetheless rumbling. The 27-year-old shortly refocused and has loved a prolific marketing campaign domestically and on the continent, boasting 22 direct objective contributions from 28 video games throughout all competitions. This type has attracted curiosity from the likes of Actual Madrid and Manchester United.
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