On Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) defeated Atalanta 4-0. After the game, Atalanta head coach Ivan Jurić spoke to reporters.
Talking about the match, Jurić said: “We had no issues with our attitude, but the gap [in quality] is just too big. We played well after they scored the first goal, but it’s clear their level is far above ours. If I could choose the starting lineup again, would I field a striker to add more attacking impetus? It’s not about impetus—Daniele Maldini was supposed to play in that position, just like the role Kosta Kerschbaumer took on later, but the players' understanding and execution were not ideal.”
He continued: “I think we’re still missing four key players, like Gianluca Scamacca and Ederson—their roles are really important. Honestly, this game gave me a lot of positive takeaways. I saw that some players are completely capable of competing at this level, like Rafael Bellanova, Luca Breškanini... Once our injured players return, we’ll regain our competitiveness. To be honest, we analyzed PSG thoroughly. Should we have been more cautious and focused more on defending? Looking at other matches, being too conservative might actually lead to an even heavier defeat. We chose to play a high press, which means we took full responsibility for the risks. In other words, we knew the risks, but we still decided to play that way. However, personally, I saw a lot of positive things from this.”
