Percassi: ‘Atalanta victory over Chelsea was a magical night’

Atalanta director Luca Percassi acknowledges the win over Chelsea was their third greatest European night, but now they must ‘battle for every point’ against Cagliari.

It kicks off at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo at 19.45 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s three Serie A games on the Liveblog.

The Bergamo boys are wearing their Christmas Match kit, which will then be auctioned off to raise funds for charity, as it has been for 15 years now.

It arrives just days after their Champions League 2-1 comeback victory over Chelsea, which propelled them into the top eight with a view of going straight into the Round of 16.

However, in Serie A they are still playing catch-up and won only one of their last 10 games.

“It is going to be a very difficult match against a team that showed last week how dangerous it can be, they are well set out with good players, so it certainly will be tough,” Percassi told Sky Sport Italia.

The panel put it to the director that the victory over Chelsea was the third best night for the club in Europe, after the Europa League Final triumph and their 3-0 Champions League win away to Liverpool.

“I fully agree! It was a magical night.”

Nonetheless, Percassi shrugs off suggestions La Dea are doing anything other than battling for every point domestically, let alone taking European qualification for granted.

“It would be a terrible error for Atalanta to give less than 100 per cent in Serie A, as our objective as always is to secure safety as soon as possible, then build from there.”