Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini criticized his star forward Ademola Lookman, calling him “one of the worst penalty takers ever” after the Nigerian missed a crucial spot-kick in their Champions League defeat to Club Brugge.
The Europa League holders faced an uphill battle after a 2-1 first-leg loss, and a first-half brace from Chemsdine Talbi, along with a Ferran Jutgla goal, left them trailing 3-0 at halftime in Tuesday’s second leg.
Lookman gave Atalanta hope with an early second-half goal as they attempted a comeback, but his missed penalty after the hour mark sealed the Nerazzurri’s fate as they crashed out of the competition with a 5-2 aggregate loss.
Former Sunderland and Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who saved Lookman’s spot-kick became only the second Brugge goalkeeper to save a Champions League penalty, following Ludovic Butelle’s stop against Copenhagen in September 2016.
After the match, Gasperini did not mince words in his criticism of Lookman’s penalty-taking abilities, with the Italian boss even going as far as naming a couple of players he would have preferred to take the kick instead.
“Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” the Italian manager said at his post-match press conference.
“He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them.
“Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman, in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring, decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all.”
Following the defeat, Atalanta became the second Italian team to exit the competition, joining AC Milan who played out a 1-1 draw against Feyenoord at San Siro after suffering a narrow 1-0 in the Netherlands.
La Dea, who sit third on the Serie A standings, will now turn their full focus on securing qualification for next season’s Champions League, having also crashed out of the Coppa Italia courtesy of a 1-0 defeat to Bologna.
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