Milan: Atalanta continued their bid for Champions League football with a 2-1 win at Monza on Sunday, fresh from knocking Liverpool out of Europe.
Charles De Ketelaere’s half-time goal and El Bilal Toure’s 72nd-minute header lifted Atalanta to within fifth of Roma, who host Champions League rivals Bologna on Monday night.
A top-five finish in Serie A guarantees a place in next season’s Champions League thanks to the Italian club’s strong performances in the continental competition.
Atalanta reached the semi-finals of the Europa League on Thursday in one of the biggest nights in the club’s history and Gian Piero Gasperini played with confidence at the U-Power Stadium despite overhauling the team that destroyed Liverpool.
On Wednesday, Atalanta tried to overcome a 1-0 deficit against Fiorentina, who beat Salernitana 2-0 in the second half of the Coppa Italia semi-final on Wednesday.
“We have to keep improving,” Gasperini told DAZN.
None of Sunday’s top scorers started midway through the season, with Toure scoring his second goal of the season in his first season since signing from Atalanta in July.
Striker Mali Toure became Atalanta’s record signing from Almeria for €30m plus add-ons.
But after suffering a serious knee injury in August, he was limited to change action after only returning to action in February.
However, mid-table Monza almost conceded a point in the 89th minute when Daniele Maldini’s impressive long-range effort went in and out of the post. football
“Apparently, we didn’t learn anything. It happened in another game this season and we lost,” added Gasperini, who dropped two points against Verona after taking a two-goal lead last weekend.
Lecce took a giant leap towards safety with a 3-0 win at Sassuolo, which threatened to end their 11-year run as a top-flight club.
Lecce are in 13th place, seven points above the bottom three, after early goals from Valentin Gendrei, Patrik Dorgun and Roberto Piccoli in the 61st minute shot them ahead of their rivals.
On Monday night, Inter will aim to win their 20th Serie A title by defeating local rivals AC Milan in a highly anticipated local derby.
