Atalanta coach Raffaele Palladino thought losing 6-1 to Bayern Munich would be the worst part of his day, then he had to speak to Fabio Capello.
The inexperienced manager is coaching in his first Champions League campaign, and despite making it out of the league phase and play-offs, it looks like it’s over for Atalanta in the last 16.
A humbling home defeat means Atalanta are heading out, and there wasn’t any sympathy back home, despite the Bergamo side being the final Italian side left in the competition.
Palladino was forced to speak to Sky Italia post-match, and the legendary Capello was in no mood to let him off the hook.
He brutally asked: “Palladino, before the match you said you’d watched 12 Bayern games to prepare for it: what changes did Bayern make to surprise you? Or did you study them poorly?”
The Atalanta coach tried to defend himself, saying: “Mister, there are some great players on the pitch…
“We expected them to cause us problems with these fast players up front, with their attacks in depth.
“But beyond the fact that we studied them well or badly, as you say… “
Capello interjected saying: “You said you studied them carefully, not me.”
Only for Palladino to reply: “Mister, there are values on the pitch… “
Capello then added: “Oh, so this is important, accepting values!”
Before Palladino stuck to his guns: “Mister, we won’t change, we won’t defend in zones. Instead, let’s accept the result. We learned a lot tonight.”
Despite his defence of his tactics, it was clear that Palladino made a mistake with man-to-man marking.
In fact, one of his key players admitted as much post-match.
“We tried to press instead of dropping back and attempting counterattacks,” the Martin de Roon said.
“But they are too strong. We tried and lost, but perhaps the decision wasn’t the right one.”
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