Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini admits they were poor for defeat to Sassuolo.

La Dea lost 2-1 on Sunday, with Gasperini conceding they weren't good enough on the day.

"I rotated the squad because playing away in Europe on Thursday and then again on Sunday afternoon is not easy," he said.

“I wanted fresh legs, but we didn't have the quality and precision needed. It was an open game in the first half, we made a clumsy error on the goal with the counter-attack and I honestly expected better.

“We've done pretty badly in the second half of the season in Serie A for many reasons, including injuries and international duty. We were rarely able to maintain that competitiveness over the various competitions."

He added: “The crossroads is Thursday (RB Leipzig). If we were to reach the Europa League semi-final, that would be a good achievement for the season. If that doesn't happen, there are seven games left in Serie A and we need to do something special to qualify for Europe."