Atalanta CEO: ‘We have a lot of faith in Palladino but sacking Juric was difficult’

Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi has spoken ahead of Atalanta’s trip to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, telling the press of his delight with new head coach Raffaele Palladino and revealing the decision to sack Ivan Juric was “a difficult one that we suffered over.”

It kicks off at the Frankfurt Stadion at 20.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Atletico Madrid vs. Inter on the Liveblog.

Although they have struggled in Serie A and are without a win in eight rounds, the Champions League results have been better this season.

Following the opening 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, they beat Club Brugge and Olympique Marseille, along with a home draw against Slavia Prague.

Scamacca returns to the starting eleven for Atalanta today, his first start since returning from injury.

“We are happy for Gianluca, it is a special game and his return to the Champions League after that injury,” Percassi told Sky Sport Italia, via TuttoMercatoWeb.

Raffaele Palladino made his debut in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Napoli, replacing sacked Ivan Juric, and this is the first Champions League match of his coaching career.

“The coach arrived and is working hard, he is a young and capable coach with clear ideas, so we have a lot of faith in him.”

Did Atalanta do well to sack Juric sooner rather than later? Percassi delivered his verdict:

“All I can say is that the choice on Juric was a difficult one that we suffered over. We are not accustomed to doing this, but the recent negative trend prompted us to make the change. We cannot change the past, even if that period did help us to learn, and now we look forward with the new coach.”