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| Del Neri fired up for Roma |
Sunday 15 February, 2009 |
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Atalanta are “extremely motivated” for their meeting with old rivals Roma, assures Coach Gigi Del Neri, although they lose Luca Cigarini.
The former Parma midfielder picked up a knock during training this week and has been ruled out of this afternoon's encounter.
Instead, Simone Padoin is likely to move into central midfield with Jaime Valdes taking over on the left flank.
“Roma are in great form and we will face them with the utmost respect,” explained the former Giallorossi tactician.
“They have players of real quality and are very organised. However, in recent weeks we have proved that we too are a solid outfit.
“In order to be up to the task, we need an Atalanta side that plays with a very high tempo, just as we did against Inter.”
The Orobici caused the upset of the season so far when they hammered leaders Inter 3-1 at the Stadio Azzurri d'Italia.
There is an intense rivalry between the two sets of fans and Roma have not shared the spoils here since November 2001.
“As always, we are extremely motivated and a Coach doesn't need to fire up his squad for fixtures like this.”
Christian Vieri, Jose Leonardo Talamonti and Diego De Ascentis flesh out the injury list.
Atalanta squad: Coppola, Consigli, Bellini, Manfredini, Pellegrino, Peluso, Capelli, Garics, Ferreira Pinto, Parravicini, Guarente, Padoin, Cerci, Floccari, Defendi, Valdes, Plasmati, Doni.
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Vucinic avoids injury scare
Alberto Aquilani is out of Roma's meeting with trip to Atalanta, but Mirko Vucinic has escaped an injury scare. More |
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