Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini defended his players after they were eliminated from the Champions League.

La Dea lost 3-2 against Villarreal on Thursday night, having been 3-0 down at one stage in Bergamo.

"We usually manage to give our best in games like this, but instead we had just a horrible start and it becomes difficult when you go behind at this level," Gasperini said afterwards.

“We got the sensation as time wore on that we could get back into it, but it was too late. When Muriel hit the post, if that had gone in for 3-3, it would've given us a chance to throw everything at them. It is also true that in the 90 minutes we were unable to play the way we can.

“There are even more regrets because we went out in a game that we were more than capable of winning. The players have put in so many good performances this season, an off day can happen. When we managed to improve the quality of the football, that's when we created lots of scoring opportunities.

“With Villarreal taking such an early lead, they could sit back even deeper and we struggled to break them down. The whole first half was not good, we misplaced passes and lacked our usual quality.

“We leave the Champions League with a lot of regrets."