Percassi welcomes Atalanta's growth and Gasperini's milestone

Atalanta director Luca Percassi celebrates Gian Piero Gasperini's 400th game at the club as well as the coach and Ademola Lookman's “prestigious” Ballon d'Or nominations.

The game against Verona starts at 7.45pm UK time (6.45pm GMT) at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.

You can follow the entire build-up and action in the live blog.

La Dea's run of three straight wins ended with a frustrating 0-0 draw against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Squad rotation will be kept to a minimum this evening, although there is a game against Monza during the week and a trip to face leaders Napoli next Sunday.

Percassi sees progress at Atalanta

“We look at the table, but more at the points to be awarded. “Tonight there is a very important game, we know the difficulties involved, like all games in Serie A or the Champions League,” Percassi told Sky Sport Italia.

The Ballon d'Or ceremony is next week and Atalanta is represented for the first time, with both striker Lookman as a player and coach Gasperini after their Europa League triumph.

“It is fantastic and extraordinary that they are protagonists for Atalanta and these nominations show the great work being done at the club. It is prestigious and wonderful for us.”

Gasperini marks a real milestone tonight, reaching his 400th birthday^Th After 206 wins, 93 draws and 100 defeats, he sat on the bench, scored 770 goals and conceded 478.

“This is his ninth season with us and I think that is almost unique in Europe. As a family, we really like the coach because he is with us. I think today is his 400th^Th To compete with Atalanta and if we achieve these numbers it means we have done something really significant.”

Atalanta has not only grown in terms of results, but also off the pitch: its own stadium is now fully built and it has one of the best youth academies in Europe. Percassi was accused of allowing them to move so quickly in the market when Gianluca Scamacca was injured and snap up Mateo Retegui from Genoa within 48 hours.

“The stadium and the youth academy have done hard work along the way. The stadium in particular was a fantastic journey and achievement. In the transfer market we try to be prepared for anything that could happen. Gianluca's injury was completely unexpected, so we tried to solve the problem with a player we had always valued and liked. As the situation developed, we jumped in and didn’t hold back financially – unfortunately!”

Finally, Percassi was asked about rumors that Atalanta are considering Monza midfielder Daniel Maldini as a potential new target.

“He is a young lad with enormous talent who comes from a prestigious family that represents the best of Italian football, so of course Atalanta are watching him. We're glad he's doing well, but we hope he doesn't do too well in his next game since it's against us! He’s someone we monitor.”