La Dea are preparing to take on the French champions on neutral turf and Gasperini remains bullish about the prospects of causing an upset.
Having been one of the teams with most goals scored in Europe this season, the Italian coach has revealed that Atalanta will not defend against Thomas Tuchel’s men and insists he wants to force the Parisians’ superstar, Neymar, who he labeled as one of the best players in the world, to defend.
“We will not sit back, even in Lisbon,” the former Palermo and Genoa boss told La Gazzetta dello Sport in his press conference.
“It doesn’t mean bragging rights in front of Neymar, but the real challenge is exactly this.”
“Even more than for the result, we must play without changing ourselves. We must be Atalanta.”
He added: “Neymar is one of the best in the world, but if we attack him, it will be up to him to defend himself. Mbappe? I expect him to be there.”
In their debut season in the Champions League, Atalanta finished second in a group which consisted Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk, before eliminating Valencia 8-4 on aggregate in the Round of 16.
The Bergamo-based team also ended the Serie A season in third position, having scored 98 league goals; the most in the division.
