Atalanta head coach Ivan Juric has admitted that his side are not making the most of Ademola Lookman’s qualities following their frustrating goalless draw with Slavia Prague in Wednesday night’s UEFA Champions League clash, Footynaija.com reports.
It was another familiar story for the Bergamo side at the New Balance Arena with Atalanta dominant in possession, brimming with intent, yet toothless in front of goal.
The 0-0 stalemate against the Czech champions mirrored the weekend’s draw with Lazio, as La Dea once again created several promising chances but failed to turn their superiority into goals.
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Much of the post-match discussion centred around La Dea’s struggles in attack and the absence of a natural finisher following Mateo Retegui’s summer move to Saudi Arabia.
When asked about that, Juric was quick to defend his current options but admitted that the team has not been able to properly harness Lookman’s talent.
“I understand the reasoning, but I think we have quality players. Besides Scamacca, who can be devastating, we have players like Lookman, Krstovic, and Ademola who often get close to scoring,” he said in quotes revealed by TuttoAtalanta.
“Right now, we’re lacking clarity in the final meters. For example, Ademola is usually devastating between the third and fifth steps, when he gets going at speed, but lately we haven’t been able to exploit him as we know how. We need to improve there, with more composure and conviction.”
Lookman, who was Atalanta’s talisman last season, has endured a difficult start to life under Juric. Since returning from his exile, the Nigeria international has gone five matches without a single goal contribution across all competitions.
Atalanta have now recorded six draws from their first ten games of the 25/26 season. They are currently on a run of four straight draws across all competitions and will be aiming to finally grab maximum points when they visit Cremonese in Serie A this weekend.
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