Atalanta manager Maurizio Sarri spoke ahead of the third Conference League matchday against Kairat Almaty about the team's situation, a retreat and the status of an injured player. He also addressed the problems the side is facing before the match.
The purpose of the retreat
Sarri said: "The retreat is about bringing us closer together and building stronger relationships than usual, even without talking about football, so we can forge stronger personal bonds and overcome the problems we are facing."
His view of the Parma game
Sarri said: "I am happy with the team. In the first half against Parma, I saw what I wanted to see, apart from the defensive carelessness. We stopped believing once we conceded the first goal, and the second was the logical consequence. It is not something you can work on out on the pitch. We need to reflect on why one negative incident on Monday evening caused us to switch off . Twelve goalscoring chances to three: those are the numbers, those are the facts. At times we seem to lack ruthlessness in both penalty areas. Tactics have not caused the problems ."
Kairat Almaty and the difficulty of the match
Sarri said: "The match is difficult because of the problems we are facing, but over the past year and the past six months, our opponents have lost 2-1 in Milan to Inter and 3-2 in London to Arsenal"
Injury update
On the injured players, Sarri said: "Scamacca is trying to return"
