Atalanta coach Gasperini delighted reaching Europa League final

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was left proud reaching the Europa League final.

Atalanta defeated Marseille 3-0 on Thursday to win the semifinal 4-1 on aggregate. Ademola Lookman, Matteo Ruggeri and El-Bilal Toure struck the goals.

"We are playing many games, it is not easy to always play well and in some of those matches we struggle, but tonight was a fine victory," said Gasperini.

I already said yesterday, when there is a whole city embracing us, the players feel that energy and that emotion. It was a special match and they played it the best way.

I think the Final is going to be an historic occasion and for a club like ours it's truly incredible, but this bodes well for everyone. Statistics seem important, it feels necessary to set up a European Superleague, but the example set by Atalanta can give hope.

Football is a meritocracy and that is what makes the game beautiful, not because you inherit some genetic rights through your lineage.

This is our DNA, we had everything required to play an attacking game with a trident made of pure strikers. That is our strength, even if we could've converted more of our opportunities, because it was open until Ruggeri's goal for 2-0.

I am really happy for Ruggeri, he scored an extraordinary goal, he is a great representative of Atalanta, having grown up in our academy."