Ademola Lookman incensed with manager Gasperini’s comment after his penalty miss for Atalanta in the Champions League.
Ademola Lookman hits out at manager’s ‘hurtful’ jibe after penalty is saved.
Ademola Lookman, a striker for Atalanta, said that his coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s remarks following Tuesday’s Champions League exit calling him “one of the worst penalty takers” he had ever seen were “deeply disrespectful” and sad.
Club Brugge advanced to the round of 16 after shocking Atalanta 3-1 in the second leg of their playoff match. The Italian team was eliminated with a 5-2 aggregate victory. Atalanta was behind 3-0 before Lookman gave them a goal back. However, Simon Mignolet saved a penalty kick for the Nigerian attacker, who was born in London and has scored 15 goals this season. Gasperini then stated that Lookman was not intended to take the penalty kick.
Writing on Instagram, Lookman said: “Being singled out in the manner I have been not only hurts but feels deeply disrespectful, not least because of the immense hard work and commitment I have always put in each and every day to help bring success to this club and to the incredible fans of Bergamo.
“In truth, I have dealt with many difficult moments during my time here – the majority of which I have never spoken about because in my opinion the team must always be protected and must come first. This makes what happened last night even more hurtful. Along with our incredible fans, we as a team are hurting too with last night’s result.
“During the match the designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty; and to support the team I took responsibility in the moment to do so. Life’s about challenges and turning pain into power which I’ll continue to do.”
Lookman has a “dreadful record even in training,” according to Gasperini, who also stated that Charles De Ketelaere and Mateo Retegui would have been better choices to take the penalty.
Lookman scored a hat-trick in the Europa League final to help Atalanta defeat Bayer Leverkusen, who had been unbeaten all season, and was the team’s star the previous season.