Gasperini dismisses Scudetto talk after Atalanta´s ninth straight Serie A win

Gian Piero Gasperini played down Atalanta’s chances of winning the Serie A title ahead of defending champions Juventus following their ninth consecutive league victory.

Atalanta continued their red-hot form with a 2-0 win at home to lowly Sampdoria thanks to Rafael Toloi and Luis Muriel on Wednesday.

Gasperini’s Atalanta have not lost in Serie A since January and are in the midst of a 13-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.

Only two points adrift of second-placed Lazio through 31 matches, Atalanta could close to within six points of Juve with six games remaining if they beat the league leaders on Saturday.

However, Atalanta head coach Gasperini dismissed the Scudetto talk post-match.

#AtalantaSamp | 2-0 | FULL-TIME

 Sono NOVEEEEEEEEE!!!
 WINS IN A ROOOWWW!!!

#GoAtalantaGo pic.twitter.com/K8vmSTDUcK

— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) July 8, 2020

“We can’t let that thought into our heads, because Juve have the Scudetto in their hands,” Gasperini, whose Atalanta are also already through to the Champions League quarter-finals, told Sky Sport Italia.

“Even yesterday [Tuesday], despite their 4-2 defeat with Milan, they still showed they are the strongest team. We are trying to challenge only ourselves, to secure a Champions League place, try to beat our points record and then eventually we’ll see if we can finish ahead of Lazio or Inter.

“We knew Samp would be difficult this evening, as they are in good shape physically, defend very well and are dangerous on the counter-attack.

“We did so well, because this is a risky type of match, but we played with intensity and proved we have many different ways of winning games. That is valuable.”