Sarri: ‘Atalanta conceded a stupid goal, but with 14 players out, we take the point’

Maurizio Sarri accepted Atalanta's 1-1 home draw against Kairat Almaty in the UEFA Conference League, citing an extreme injury crisis. Marc Gual opened the scoring on a counter-attack for the Kazakh side before substitute Nikola Krstovic scored to equalize for the hosts. Speaking after the match, Sarri criticized the goal his side conceded as stupid but maintained that securing a point was a positive step given that 14 squad members were unavailable or strictly limited in minutes.

The draw extended Atalanta's winless streak to seven matches across Serie A and the Conference League. Sarri noted that 10 players were injured and four were restricted to under 30 minutes of action, forcing him to deploy Under-23 defenders and recently returned players like Kamaldeen Sulemana and Gianluca Scamacca amidst a demanding fixture schedule.