Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini hailed his players after signing off for 2019 with a stunning 5-0 humiliation of AC Milan.

Papu Gomez, Mario Pasalic, Josip Ilicic (2) and Luis Muriel grabbed the goals for an Atalanta team which is also into the Champions League round of 16.

“We close a fantastic 2019 in which we achieved marvellous results with excellent performances. This crowns the season, really, now we go into the Christmas break and after that will have plenty more to do," declared Gasperini.

“It was clear from the start that Ruslan Malinovskyi is a talent, then of course it takes a little while to adapt to Italian football, as you don't get as much room or time to play as in other leagues.

“Our great strength is that we have 15-16 players who are inter-changeable and they all give their contribution, can be relied upon to fill any gaps.

“This was a game that went right for us from the very start. The defeat to Bologna hurt, probably because we had a hangover from the Champions League, but overall the lads have done an incredible job.

“Atalanta right now are good enough to be in amongst the 'big' clubs in Italy and you'll see many of these players go on to great careers too."