Atalanta coach Gasperini welcomes Tuchel praise; prepares for Man Utd | OneFootball

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini appreciates the support of Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.

Tuchel praised Gasperini last week while attending the Festival della Football.

Gasperini smiled: "It's perhaps one of the most prestigious compliments I've received. Tuchel won the Champions League, eliminating some big favourites, so we saw that as a reward.

“At the same time, this is Atalanta. If people expect us to win the Scudetto, then that's going to create a lot of problems. It's certainly not in my thoughts."

La Dea meet Manchester United in the Champions League in midweek.

He added: "It's a very prestigious match and an important one, especially considering the state of the group standings, but we have to think about Empoli and take it one game at a time.

“We're rather forced into some decisions and need to check Duvan Zapata's fitness today. Luis Muriel needs to regain match fitness after the long lay-off, the kind you don't get from training alone.

“Joakim Maehle scores lots of goals on international duty, maybe we should put a Denmark shirt on him when he plays for Atalanta!"