Ademola Lookman has hit back at Gian Piero Gasperini’s criticism of his penalty miss during Atalanta‘s 3-1 Champions League defeat to Club Brugge, saying that being singled out by his coach “not only hurts but feels deeply disrespectful.”
Lookman, who scored Atalanta’s only goal on the night, had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet as the Serie A side were knocked out with a 5-2 aggregate defeat on Tuesday.
Speaking in a news conference after the match, Gasperini criticised Lookman’s penalty-taking ability and said that Charles De Ketelaere or Mateo Retegui should have taken it instead.
“Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” the Italian manager said.
“He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them. Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all.”
