Atalanta preparing for Serie A title dance with champions Inter
Gian Piero Gasperini made a bold promise after Atalanta smashed four past Juventus last weekend and reignited their Serie A title bid, with Inter Milan coming to town on Sunday.
Speaking to Portuguese broadcaster Sport TV and still on a high after a stunning 4-0 victory in Turin, veteran coach Gasperini said that if Atalanta won their first ever Scudetto he would travel to Brazil and dance the samba.
"I'll go to Rio, meet up with my old friend Leo Junior and have a dance," Gasperini said, before addressing the former Brazil midfielder directly on camera.
"If I win the title I'm definitely going, I'm definitely coming to see you."
Gasperini, who played with Leo Junior at Pescara in the late 1980s, had every reason to be elated after having just watched his team slice through Juve almost at will.
But Sunday's clash with league leaders and reigning champions Inter could be Atalanta's -- and Gasperini's -- last dance in what has been an unprecedented tilt for a league crown.
Atalanta are three points behind Inter in third place but will need to snap a dismal run of results at home if they are to pull level with their more illustrious Lombardy rivals.
They haven't won at home in Serie A since before Christmas, collecting just four points from five matches in Bergamo and failing to even score against lowly Cagliari and Venezia in their last two outings at the Gewiss Stadium.
That home hoodoo stands in stark contrast to some fizzing displays on the road, with four wins on the bounce and 14 goals scored without reply at Verona, Empoli and Juve in the last month.
And Sunday's match could also be one of Gasperini's last of his wildly successful nine-year tenure in Bergamo, which has seen the 67-year-old drag the traditionally tiny club to the top table in Italy and win the Europa League.
Gasperini has already said that he will not renew his contract which expires next year, and he might move on this summer with reports that he could take over at revitalised Roma when Claudio Ranieri steps aside at the end of the season.
Inter come into the match in high spirits after sweeping past Feyenoord and into a Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich but will still be without star wing-back Federico Dimarco, one of five absentees for Simone Inzaghi's team.
Napoli, who are only a point behind Inter, have a chance to reclaim the league lead when they take on lowly Venezia in Venice earlier on Sunday and hope that then Inter slip up at Atalanta.
Man to watch: Thiago Motta
Last weekend's historic thumping at the hands of Atalanta didn't just end any talk of Juve launching a late bid for the Scudetto, it also increased speculation that Motta's time at Juve could well be up.
Fans were already on a war footing after early elimination from both the Champions League and Italian Cup, and Juve's worst home defeat since 1967 only made matters worse for Motta and his players.
Italian media are reporting that Motta, who was heavily backed in the summer transfer window after arriving from Bologna, could be sacked should Juve not win at Fiorentina, a match which is always a spicy affair.
Turin-based Tuttosport report that former Italy coach Roberto Mancini is among the leading contenders for Juve, who even with all the discontent still sit fourth and in the Champions League positions.
Key stats
3 - Just three points separate Inter, Napoli and Atalanta
5 - Atalanta have failed to win their last five home league matches
Fixtures
Friday
- Genoa vs. Lecce
Saturday
- Monza vs. Parma
- Udinese vs. Verona
- AC Milan vs. Como
- Torino vs. Empoli
Sunday
- Venezia vs. Napoli
- Bologna vs. Lazio
- Roma vs. Cagliari
- Fiorentina vs. Juventus
- Atalanta vs. Inter Milan