Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has refused to apologize to Ademola Lookman after the Nigerian player felt offended by the coach’s comments on his penalty taking.

The penalty incident took place during Atalanta’s 3-1 Champions League play-off defeat to Club Brugge. Ademola Lookman, who had scored a goal after coming on as a substitute, had a chance to narrow the gap from the penalty spot. However, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, crushing Atalanta’s hopes of a comeback.

In his post-match comments, Gasperini lashed out at Lookman, and labelled the Nigerian star as “one of the worst penalty takers” in football.

Following Gasperini’s remarks, Lookman took to Instagram to express his disappointment, describing the criticism as both “deeply disrespectful” and personally hurtful.

Lookman’s response resonated with fans and pundits alike, many of whom questioned why the manager chose to publicly attack his player instead of addressing the issue internally.

As the controversy continued to dominate headlines, Gasperini addressed the situation in a press conference on Saturday.

Gasperini maintained that he didn’t intend to offend Lookman, but refuse to absolve the Nigerian forward of the blame.

He insisted that Lookman should never have taken the penalty and ought to have told De Ketelaere to take it.

Gasperini said: “I would have liked a strong player like Lookman to have made a gesture towards [Charles] De Ketelaere saying: ‘Come on keep the ball, put it in”

While he acknowledged the impact of his words, he insisted that his intention was not to insult Lookman.

He also didn’t state whether he has personally apologize to Lookman or not.

The Atalanta coach said: “He felt offended, I didn’t want to offend anyone.”


https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2025/02/22/atalanta-manager-gasperini-refuses-to-apologise-to-ademola-lookman/