The penalty incident occurred during Atalanta’s 3-1 second-leg Champions League play-off defeat to Club Brugge. Lookman, who had just pulled...
The penalty incident occurred during Atalanta’s 3-1 second-leg Champions League play-off defeat to Club Brugge. Lookman, who had just pulled a goal back for his team after coming on as a second-half substitute, had the opportunity to further close the gap from 12 yards but his effort was denied by former Liverpool and Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, extinguishing any hopes of a dramatic comeback.
In his post-match comments, Gasperini did not hold back in his criticism of the Nigerian international, making it clear that Lookman had no business taking the crucial spot-kick.
"He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them. Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all."
Following Gasperini’s remarks, Lookman took to Instagram to express his disappointment, describing the criticism as both "deeply disrespectful" and personally hurtful. His 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.
WHAT GASPERINI SAID
As the controversy continued to dominate headlines, Gasperini addressed the situation in a press conference on Saturday. While he acknowledged the impact of his words, he insisted that his intention was not to insult Lookman.
"Yesterday in Udinese-Lecce we had what could have been a drama, luckily there were guys who let it go. 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'.
"He can become a penalty taker, that would be an additional goal-scoring ability... I always speak in front of the whole team, it has never touched the club. He felt offended, I didn't want to offend anyone."
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