Gian Piero Gasperini was delighted with his players after Atalanta's 3-2 defeat of Fiorentina.

Josep Ilicic came off the bench to hit the winner from the spot.

Atalanta retain their place in the top four and Gasperini says: "Our ambitions have increased thanks to everyone, growing over five years from level to level. We won't disguise that, considering the consistency of our results, we are in one of the top levels. Not quite the top, because Juventus and Inter have something more, and the clubs we are battling against have very high budgets, who we cannot compete with on the transfer market.

“For example, we cannot sign Romelu Lukaku or Victor Osimhen. Atalanta have raised the bar because of intelligent sales, but we cannot compete on those levels.

“I think it's excessive to suggest Atalanta should start the season being expected to win the Scudetto. Having said that, if we end up in the general area towards the end, that's different.

“I believe the race for the top four will go down to the wire this season. It'll be down to the last day."