Napoli head coach Antonio Conte is losing sleep over how to effectively manage Ademola Lookman during Sunday’s Serie A showdown with Atalanta at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
The former Chelsea boss plans to assign a dedicated player to mark the Nigerian, reminiscent of how Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta used Thomas Partey to keep an eye on him during their goalless UEFA Champions League match at Gewess Stadium on September 19.
Conte stressed that the Partenopei should not take their opponents lightly, as Atalanta is a tight-knit team and the reigning UEFA Europa League champions. He is prepared to make tactical sacrifices to limit the impact of Lookman and his teammates on the game.
“It was Matteo who gave me the idea to drop down if needed when under attack. Against Atalanta, Arsenal put Thomas Partey on Ademola Lookman to form a five-man line; sometimes Arsenal also brought Saka and Martinelli deep. There is an evolution; you attack in one way and defend in another. It’s not just about defenders, but the whole team working together to defend. I have really drummed the tactical issues into the players ahead of this game, and we’ll see what happens,” said the Italian gaffer as per Football Italia.
He continued, “This is a big danger because Atalanta are a strong team; they won the Europa League by ending Bayer Leverkusen’s season-long unbeaten record.
“They’ve been regulars in the Champions League for years, and every season has to be considered among the best sides. It’s all credit to the club and to Gian Piero Gasperini, a coach who also worked with me when I was a player at Juventus. When I was injured, I’d spend recovery time with his youth team.
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“It is not possible for Napoli to underestimate this match. If anything, it could be Atalanta who underestimates us, seeing what happened last season. You all keep telling me it is an advantage not playing European games, but I warn you it is a disadvantage because we don’t have such a deep squad.
“I don’t know if I’d call it a Scudetto clash, but for both clubs the main target is to qualify for the Champions League. Atalanta can set the example for us, building year by year, even when selling big players.”
This season, Lookman, who finished 14th in the Ballon d’Or rankings, has started six of his seven appearances for Atalanta across their 10 fixtures. He has netted four Serie A goals, which is tied for the seventh highest tally in the competition, whilst he also ranks joint second for Serie A assists, having created four goals for his teammates.
