By Obaloluwa Joshua, LAGOS
Ademola Lookman has said that being singled out by Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini for his penalty miss in Atalanta’s 3-1 Champions League loss to Club Brugge ‘not only hurts, but feels deeply disrespectful’.
Gasperini claimed Lookman is ‘one of the worst penalty taker I’ve ever seen’ after the game.
Atalanta were knocked out of the Champions League in the play-off round after a 5-2 aggregate loss to Club Brugge.
The Nigeria international scored La Dea’s only after coming off the bench in the second half.
The winger however missed a chance to further reduce the deficit when he stepped up and missed a penalty, despite the fact that he was not the designated set-piece taker.
Lookman took to the social media to express his displeasure following Gasperini’s comment.
“It saddens me on a day like this to have to write this statement – Most of all because of what we have achieved together as a team and as a city,” he wrote on X.
“Being singled out in the manner I have been not only hurts but feels deeply disrespectful, not least because of the immense hard work and commitment I have always put in each and every day to help bring success to this club and the incredible fans of Bergamo.
“In truth, I have dealt with many difficult moments during my time here – the majority of which I have never spoken about because in my opinion the team must always be protected and must come first. This makes what happened last night even more hurtful.
“Along with our incredible fans, we as a team are hurting too with last night’s result. During the match the designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty; and to support the team I took the responsibility in the moment to do so.
“Life’s about challenges and turning pain into power, which I’ll continue to do.”
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