Ademola Lookman has been injured since the eve of Atalanta vs Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Atalanta went three games without a win since the Super Eagles star suffered a knee injury in trainingGian Piero Gasperini’s side returned to winning ways against Verona and Lookman celebrated his teammates
Ademola Lookman has shared in the joy of his teammates after Atalanta won their first game since he suffered a knee injury that has kept him out of action since last month.
Atalanta were preparing for their final UEFA Champions League group stage match against Barcelona when Lookman was reported to have picked up an injury in training.
Atalanta players celebrate Mateo Retegui’s second goal against Hellas Verona. Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini.
Source: Getty Images
Atalanta went three games winless starting with a 2-2 draw against Barcelona, followed by a 1-1 draw against Torino before Bologna eliminated them from the Coppa Italia.
La Dea returned to winning ways with a big 5-0 victory over Hellas Verona away with Mateo Retegui netting four goals and Ederson adding the fifth goal.
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As noted by Squawka, Retegui is the first Italian player to score four goals in a match since Ciro Immobile for Lazio in 2018 and the first to hit 20 Serie A goals this season.
Lookman celebrates Atalanta’s win
Atalanta won their first game since Lookman’s injury and the Super Eagles forward who was cheering his teammates from Bergamo celebrated it on social media.
Lookman, who is expected to return to action before the end of the month, reposted the club’s full time graphics on his Instagram story and captioned it “back to winning ways”.
Head coach Gian Piero Gasperini has made no secret the fact that the team misses Lookman, and today added that Charles de Ketelarae, who was substituted at halftime misses the Nigerian the most.
“When Lookman is there, both prefer to play with the inverted foot. Maybe during the game they switch positions. He tends to go away on the left while on the right he moves more inside. In the first half he was decisive in the best actions, when he has these moments the manoeuvre improves,” he told DAZN via Napoli Magazine.
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The Italian manager admitted that his team went through a difficult period, but they are not sad because of the number of injuries and how fast the games come.
“We have little to reproach ourselves for this period, documented more by the results than by the performances. Injuries have slowed us down a bit, some really serious. Others are quite common, but if you’re out for 15 days you miss 6 games,” he added.
Up next for the third-placed team on the Italian Serie A table is an away trip to Belgium to face Club Brugge in the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage playoff.
Atalanta’s positive update on Lookman
Henzodaily.ng reported that Atalanta issued a positive update on Lookman with the reigning African Footballer of the Year expected to return from injury before the end of the month.
The club confirmed that the versatile attacker has returned to light training on the grass as he steps up his recovery from the knee injury he suffered last month.
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Source: Henzodaily.ng