Wagner: ‘Following Atalanta for a long time’
Young Boys coach David Wagner has been following Atalanta ‘for a long time’ and expects this Champions League battle to be a duel of attacking teams.
It kicks off on Wednesday at 17.45 UK time (16.45 GMT) at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
“Obviously, we are well-prepared and realised straight away that we had to come up with a Plan B in case Christian Fassnacht couldn’t make it,” said Wagner in the press conference.
Fassnacht needed stitches following a nasty clash of heads during a Swiss Super League game at the weekend.
Atalanta lost Jose Luis Palomino to injury, joining Hans Hateboer and probably Luis Muriel on the treatment table.
La Dea played a thrilling 2-2 Serie A draw with Inter on Saturday, which could easily have had many more goals.
“Atalanta are certainly a great team and I think they have some excellent players, as do Inter, so it wasn’t surprising that the game was so entertaining.”
Young Boys caused one of the upsets of the Champions League so far, fighting back to beat 10-man Manchester United 2-1.
“They are two very different games, as we played against Manchester United in a certain way, but Atalanta are a very different team.
“We need to maintain our identity, try to find space to play in. Atalanta are very good at attacking in space and we have to do the same. That is the key.
“My staff and I have been tracking Atalanta for a long time. We know how good this team is and you can see they are regulars in the Champions League. They always create scoring opportunities.
“We have a chance of winning, albeit against a very strong team. We are hungry and have a very competitive side who already picked up three points against Manchester United.”