Lookman fires back at Gasperini over penalty criticism

Ademola Lookman has expressed his disappointment over Gian Piero Gasperini’s comments regarding his penalty miss in Atalanta’s 3-1 defeat to Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) play-off second leg.

Lookman, who was making his return from a knee injury that had sidelined him since January, scored just seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute. However, he later missed a crucial penalty, and Atalanta crashed out of the UCL with a 5-2 aggregate loss.

Following the match, Gasperini publicly criticized Lookman for taking the penalty, a remark that the Nigerian forward found deeply disrespectful.

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The Italian manager said Lookman is “one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen”, and he should have left the spot-kick for more prolific teammates.

Reacting to the coach’s words in a statement on Wednesday, Lookman said, “being singled out in the manner I have been” belittles “the immense hard work and commitment I have always put in each and every day to help bring success to this club”.

He added that Atalanta’s “designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty, and to support the team, I took responsibility”.

“It saddens me on a day like this to have to write this statement – most of all because of what we have achieved together as a team and as a city,” Lookman writes.

“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. Life’s about challenges and turning pain into power, which I’ll continue to do.”

Lookman has scored 15 goals in all competitions for Atalanta this season. The Italian club won just one of four games when Lookman was out injured.