Gasperini's media conference before Atalanta

Read below what the coach had to say.

Gasperini's introduction

“So, there was this interview last Friday which created the situation we've seen this week. It came as a huge surprise to me because there has never – and let me stress, never – been a different tone between me and [Claudio] Ranieri, be it in the press conferences we've held with other people or in our relations. So it was totally unexpected. In all these months I never got that feeling, that sort of tone from him. From that moment on, my only concern was, firstly, not to reply, and secondly, although I was caught up in it involuntarily, to try not to harm the team or cause difficulties for the team mainly, also out of respect for the fans.

“There were 60,000 people, and there might be 60,000 or perhaps more tomorrow, who come to the stadium to watch the match, an important match, a big match, and we're still in with a chance. I think that's the most important thing. So I'd really like us to talk about that. I didn't speak during the week. I'd have liked to avoid all of this but it was impossible for me to stop it. So from now I'd really like to talk about football, out of respect for this match, our 33rd Serie A match of the season, which comes after many other matches, a season, a journey we've undertaken together. I hope it will be a great game.”

How difficult has this week been?

“Obviously I've been unwittingly caught up in this media circus, but for me and the team there can be no excuses for tomorrow's game. We're mentally ready to play this game which comes, as I said, after 33 others – I mean tomorrow will be the 33rd – which means we're reaching the end. It's an incredibly important match for both teams. It certainly is for us. We've tried to shift all our focus onto the technical aspect, our game plan, with the aim of not creating any excuses or any harm for the team or the fans in any way. That's our sole objective. Now we're finally going to get to play the game tomorrow and we'll be able to see how we do.”

One of the players who won't be involved against Atalanta is Wesley. Have there been some misunderstandings recently with the medical department?

“Yes, sometimes there are internal conversations and debates, but that's quite normal. In this case, Wesley feels he can play, because he's incredibly willing. He wants to be able to play. He can run, sprint and shoot, but the medical department believes, perhaps rightly, I don't know, that there are risks or they don't want to take risks. That's where discussions and problems can emerge sometimes. Wesley is desperate to be involved in this game and on the other side he's being held back. We'll see tomorrow but if the doctors say no, I can't do anything. I've always abided by the medical advice. I've never forced anything. Of course, I can say that we should try to make something happen, but that's part of the normal dialogue, trying to be a bit courageous, but I can't force situations. All coaches depend on the doctors' green light before using a player.”

Could this situation that's been created by Ranieri's comments unsettle the team?

“No. Not at all. Not in the slightest. We have to play this game, an important game, with no excuses. If anything, it might give us a bit more fuel, it might propel us. I think the fans understand that too, so they'll support the team even more.”

Do you feel you are closer or further away from remaining as Roma coach next season?

“You keep talking about other things. I want to talk about the game. I don't want to create any sort of problem. With questions like this you're creating problems. So ask a question about the team or tomorrow's match. I've said what I had to say on the other matter. If you're interested, we can talk about football. I've answered you. If you want to ask me a football question about tomorrow's game, I'll answer. If you keep asking me about these things, I've finished.”

What choices will you make tomorrow?

“The choices are the ones we know about. Apart from the players who are out or recovering, nothing has changed since last week, apart from us losing [Lorenzo] Pellegrini, which is a real shame, also given the nature of the injury. The squad is what it is. [Niccolo] Pisilli twisted his ankle at the start of the week but he seems to have recovered quite well. We need to look at him today but we know what the options are and we won't be doing much different.”

This game against Atalanta is crucial for Champions League qualification. You've stressed on several occasions that getting into the Champions League was not a requisite asked of you at the start of the season, and the management have confirmed as much. As an experienced football man, do you think that achieving that target could affect certain decisions that will have to be taken at the end of the season?

“The club has always been very clear on this and I have to say that Ranieri has been too in setting out the objectives for this year. I've always thought that with very little, it would be possible. I still think that because we're still there now. I've always pushed towards that objective to try to achieve it immediately if possible. I considered it a target from the start, from when I arrived. I considered it even more a target in January, and I've always pushed in that direction to try and improve the team, not for personal reasons, and I because I've always believed it was possible. 

I still believe now, despite all the injury problems we've had over the last few months – and we've had a series of big ones since December. Up until then, the team had a constant standard in terms of performances and players available. Up until the midway point of the season, we never had so many constant, long-term injuries. We had injuries to [Leon] Bailey, [Evan] Ferguson and [Artem] Dovbyk but we were able to compensate for them. Then at a certain point, from January, [Matias] Soule was added to the list, [Stephan] El Shaarwy was added to the list, and [Paulo] Dybala especially, and we got Malen. But I still thought that even as we were, with a few more ideas, we would still have a chance. That's part of the dialogue that takes place in any sort of company. And, as I said, there was never an aggressive tone in talks with Ranieri.

“Now we're here and we're still playing. Despite everything we still believe. Tomorrow is a game where we must try to beat a good team, a very good team, and not just because they're direct rivals to us but also because of the distance with Como and Juventus it's probably their last chance – and it might not even be enough. But they're a team with a history: last year they finished third. They're a great team with a great squad who played in the Champions League. They're a tough prospect. 

When I was at Atalanta, I always considered Roma as the limit. I mean, if we finish above Roma, we'll almost certainly get European football and probably Champions League football. That's how I saw it. Now I'm on the other side and I say that if we beat Atalanta – a Champions League team, one of the best around – then we have a right to play in the Champions League. We deserve the Champions League. It's ironic now that I'm on this side. Then there's Inter, Juve, Milan, Napoli who have always been a bit further ahead. But that's the yardstick I've always had. That's what it is against Atalanta tomorrow. They're a team who have been playing Champions League football for years, a team that's been put together with a strong squad, without going back to the past. That's how I see it for Roma right now.”

How far away are Roma and what are you most concerned about regarding future plans?

“I've said there's this difference. I've said that I've always worked to try and improve my team. I've always pushed and motivated people with the aim of improving my team based on my football principles. I was brought in to develop a team based on my football ideas, so I've always pushed for a certain type of player and that's always been my reasoning, with no ulterior motives. My intention has always been to try and improve the team to obtain Champions League's qualification immediately, if possible – not expecting anything, but if possible. If we hadn't had all these injuries, it would probably have been easier, but we're trying to do it anyway. For me that's still the target.”

What do you think of the current Atalanta team and Raffaele Palladino? In the reverse fixture there was a bit of friction with the opposition dugout.

“I met Raffaele when he was 17. I went to watch him in a Serie C match and then I coached him in the Primavera team and we won Viareggio. Afterwards, I coached him at Genoa and I think I was someone he looked up to for a long time, but tension is normal during a match as everyone is looking after their own team's interests, then after the game it's different. Football is football and it's only right. I had friends when I was playing and we used to kick lumps out of each other during the game, then we'd go and have dinner together. You might hurl insults but that's the competitive nature of the game. As long as it stays within the rules of the sport.

“I left Bergamo when I still had a year left on my contract and the club was determined to extend it. I considered it the end of a cycle because I felt it was no longer possible for me to do any more than we had done. It was right for someone else to come in. I would have seen out my contract but I'd been saying for months that I wasn't going to renew it. I came to Roma because I saw what I thought was an extraordinary possibility and, as I've said, I'm happy with the choice I made. I spent a long time in Bergamo – nine years. I've spent eight years in Genoa and nine at Atalanta, so maybe I'm not such a bad person... So working with me for so many years – and of course in nine years there are differences of opinion sometimes – it always remained within certain limits. It probably happens between husband and wife too. You're together for so many years and you could mention perhaps three, four, five times when there was a clash. And how many positives? 50? 150? You could mention hundreds. Then I made this choice and I'm glad I did because the Percassi family were no longer the owners. The opinion of the coach was not the same – and I say that without making an issue of it. I'm just stating it. I changed and I changed at the end of the season when the club gave me the chance to talk to other clubs, otherwise I'd have carried on for another year.”

Do you think you can raise the bar?

“I came here with that idea. We'll see at the end of the season. Now we have to keep going as we're still in there and we have these last six games to play. I came here with that idea, that conviction. When I met the owners, I said I'd made this choice over other options because I felt that Rome is a city where, if you're able to succeed, it's hugely rewarding. So yes, I came here with that idea.”

Against Palladino's team, will it be better to win the ball high up or build play from deep?

“The two teams are very similar in that respect. Of course, there were details in the reverse fixture, things that worked very well for us at the start. Afterwards, we found it hard to deal with their pressing, their hunger to win at the time. So they are two very evenly matched teams, as the league table would suggest, although we're a bit ahead. Two teams that know each other for sure. I know there's an incredible core to the team that ensures a competitive level, but I'm with my players too and they've shown amazing spirit all season. I think tomorrow will be a fantastic match, a very difficult match for both teams, very even. This is what I like talking about – about this type of match-up. And I hope, in fact I'm sure, that our fans will help our players even more because it's a match that's not decisive – well, it's decisive if you lose – but if you win it then it can raise expectations. We have this target which is not the one that was set out but it's the one we always wanted – both me and the team – and we're going to give it our best shot. Together with our fans, who have to think about the game. I'm sorry about that because the fans should be thinking about supporting their team for this match.”

Is there anything you'd like to take from Atalanta and bring to Rome?

“Rome has everything, both within the team and also on the outside, you need to do well, perhaps in a different way. In Bergamo I was able to do well because everything was very compact around me. The club did a tremendous job and the fans – since it's the only club in a small city – are all compact, all united with the team and the club. It creates the perfect environment. It made it possible to build a strong team over time, over many years, a first team with more than just young players and players who were improved and who were sold – deservedly for the club – for very big figures, which made the club very rich. Just this season alone, look at what the sales of [Ademola] Lookman, [Mateo] Retegui, [Matteo] Ruggeri brought in besides the Champions League revenue. Atalanta became a very rich club thanks to the club's ability to operate and build a team with me – a team where there were youngsters, there was [Alejandro] Gomez, there was [Duvan] Zapata, there was [Josip] Ilicic, there was [Marten] de Roon. At one point [Sead] Kolasinac arrived. There was a very strong core that stayed for years. Then Ederson came in, Lookman and [Gianluca] Scamacca were brought in.

A lot changed but there was always a very strong core made up not just of youngsters. It was a strong team that was able to change thanks to the revenue brought in by a club that did a magnificent job in selling the likes of [Cristian] Romero, for example, and many many others, and then reinvesting and recording a profit. Atalanta was an anomaly because for nine years we played in Europe alongside the best teams of Italy and Europe, making a profit. That was the real anomaly. Turning a profit all those years – that was the extraordinary thing. Not only because of me of course: a lot of it was down to a club that was incredibly capable of working in harmony with the coach. Then the owners changed, perhaps because the dad, whom I was closest to, was no longer around.” [Gasperini then becomes emotional and leaves the press room]