Ranieri previews Atalanta clash: “We’ll fight hard as always”

Claudio Ranieri has called on his Sampdoria squad to show all of their fighting spirit when they take on Atalanta at the Ferraris on Sunday.

“They’ll come here to take the game to us, press us and make life hard for us – we know what to expect,” said the Doria boss, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “We need to play our own game and show courage, otherwise they can blow you away. We’ll fight hard, as always. We respect our opponents, but we’ll do everything we can to get the result.”

Ranieri confirmed that he watched Atalanta’s defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

“I saw Atalanta’s game against Real – they did themselves proud and I’m sure it’s not over yet,” he said.

The Blucerchiati coach also issued an update on the fitness of the squad ahead of Sunday’s game.

“The team is in good shape and the fitness looks good,” he said. “[Adrien] Silva is suspended and I’ll be resting [Ernesto] Torregrossa, but aside from that they’re all fit. [Manolo] Gabbiadini is doing his recovery programme but we mustn’t put too much pressure eon him – I’m really pleased with how he’s training.”

The Atalanta represents the first in a run of three massive matches for Samp, who face Genoa in the derby on Wednesday before welcoming Cagliari to Marassi on Sunday week.

“We have three important games in the next seven days,” acknowledged Ranieri. “I know how much the derby means to the city of Genoa, but first we need to focus on Atalanta.”