Atalanta manager makes 'complicated' admission about 'extraordinary' Liverpool

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini believes Wednesday night’s Champions League tie with Liverpool is a “wonderful opportunity” for his side.

The Reds will be hoping his side keep up their 100 percent record in the Champions League as a win would see them advance to the knock-out stages.

Diogo Jota scored a terrific hat-trick as the Reds claimed an emphatic 5-0 victory over the Serie A side before the international break.

And even though Gasperini’s side arrive at Anfield as the underdog, the Atalanta boss is relishing the challenge that lies ahead of his side.

“The match tomorrow is very complicated and presents a lot of difficulty. We are facing a very strong squad who are doing extraordinary things,” he said when previewing the tie.

“To be able to compete in the Champions League is an opportunity, but we want to have good performances.

“We want to do better than in the first match, we will try to not commit errors which led to a cut and dry result. We think we can prevent them from getting so many gifts from us.

"They are both strong and technical, and clearly in that aspect we will need to be much better.

“The Champions League journey we are on has been two years long. The level of competition is different from the Europa League, but everything we achieve we do on the pitch.

“We will never stop learning. Tomorrow we will look to take advantage of set pieces. This matters a lot to us, we will look to make the best of the situation, we absolutely must get better."

Before he added on the first game between the two sides: “I have an overall view of the team as whole unit, not just defence, midfield and attacking units.

“I think what we need to avoid more than anything else which we didn't do back in the first game is not give them the kind of space in which they are really good.

“There can be very few errors on the pitch. We need to be a lot better than we were in the first game. The first game should serve as a lesson in that we shouldn't give them the space so when we they get the ball we know we are in trouble.”