Ademola Lookman‘s Atalanta are set to welcome Slavia Prague to the New Balance Arena in Bergamo for their UEFA Champions League group phase match tonight, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 28-year-old is still working his way up to full fitness after a summer that saw him miss the team’s pre-season preparations due to interest from Inter Milan.
Lookman played 82 minutes in Atalanta’s draw against Lazio over the weekend, even drawing praise from Ivan Juric for his improvement in the second half.
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Slavia Prague coach not scared of Lookman
Slavia head coach, Jindrich Trpisovsky, currently has an injury-ridden squad which includes Super Eagles defender, Igoh Ogbu.
However, he’s confident his side can shut Lookman down tonight, despite his history of scoring a hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League last year.
“He’s one of the inevitable players. Lookman is a star, but Atalanta is not only based on individuals. We also know Krstovic well; he showed great things in Slovakia,” the 49-year-old said in quotes revealed by Tutto Atalanta.
“Sulemana is a very interesting player, while Bellanova impresses with speed and progression. We’ll have to be good at limiting them all,” the Slavia coach concluded.
Atalanta have won just one game in the UEFA Champions League this season, and they need to pick themselves up if they’re to get into the knockout stage.