Palladino: ‘Atalanta lost to probably the best side in Europe’
Palladino: ‘Atalanta lost to probably the best side in Europe’ Raffaele Palladino admits Atalanta changed their gameplan and were still swept aside by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. ‘We faced probably the best side in Europe right now. ’ La Dea knew that their chances of qualification were slim to non-existent after the 6-1 first leg defeat, but wanted to give a better account of themselves at the Allianz Arena.
They were only 1-0 down at half-time here to a Harry Kane penalty, but the England international scored again after the restart, followed by Lennart Karl’s angled drive moments later. A Luis Diaz chip and late Lazar Samardzic header rounded out the scoreline of 4-1 on the night , 10-2 on aggregate. Palladino recognises Bayern Munich strength MUNICH, GERMANY – MARCH 18: Harry Kane of FC Bayern Munich celebrates scoring his team’s first goal from the penalty spot during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Atalanta BC at Football Arena Munich on March 18, 2026 in Munich, Germany.
(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images) “We wanted to play with pride, we changed our gameplan and tried to sit a bit deeper, giving our all against a very strong team,” Palladino told Sky Sport Italia. “I have to compliment Bayern Munich, Vincent Kompany, the whole club, because we probably faced the best side in Europe right now. You’ve got to just be honest and accept the result on the pitch.
” Nearly 4,000 Atalanta fans made the journey from Italy for this match, and had the added difficulty of a local transport strike affecting their trip to the stadium. “We tried to give our all, the objective was to salute our many fans with a better result than the first leg, and they were again fantastic tonight,” added Palladino. MUNICH, GERMANY – MARCH 18: Raffaele Palladino, Head Coach of Atalanta, acknowledges the fans following the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Bayern München and Atalanta BC at Football Arena Munich on March 18, 2026 in Munich, Germany.
(Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images) The coach had attempted some experiments for the first leg, including a four-man defence, so did he have regrets over that approach or did Atalanta learn valuable lessons for the future? “Hindsight is easy, we probably could’ve done some things differently, but then today we had a different plan and sat deeper, but it didn’t change a lot. Bayern Munich are a complete squad in every sense, they will always find a way to play through you and break you down,” insisted Palladino.
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