Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini has hit out his critics ahead of the Serie A resumption.

La Dea resume the season against Spezia, but Gasperini wanted to launch an attack on his doubters on Tuesday.

He said, “There has been this ridiculous controversy around everything, I believe it's more important to have a quality squad than a large squad, as big squads are only good for clouding reality. That is my choice, I have always done that and everyone can have their own ideas.

“There are some people in Bergamo trying to fire up controversy, some people I won't give interviews too, as I feel like they are a millstone around Atalanta's neck.

“I try to do my best, I am worried because every day someone writes that Atalanta are a big club and missing out on Europe represents a total failure. Atalanta can look to the future with positivity and calm.

“I don't recognise this mentality, we are relatively close to the top spots, crowded in with the big clubs, so it's difficult for me to understand this situation created by the media in Bergamo.

“I read some crazy things after the Lecce game, we were missing a lot of players that day and had some problems in defence. I showed the Serie A table to the players yesterday, because reading the media you might think it was a disastrous situation, but it's really not that bad."