Atalanta boss Raffaele Palladino has voiced his disappointment after the 3-1 loss to Napoli and urged his team to raise their level in the matches ahead, SportPremi reports.
The 41-year-old replaced Ivan Juric, who was sacked after turning in poor performances at the club, earlier this month.
The former Fiorentina manager was at the dugout for the first time in the colors of La Dea when they traveled to the Diego Armando to battle defending champions Napoli.
However, their poor run continued despite a new manager in charge, as they fell to a third league defeat of the 2025-26 season.
David Neres shines as Napoli claim bragging rights
Napoli had suffered a crushing 2-0 defeat to Bologna in their previous match, while Atalanta had lost 3-0 at home to Sassuolo, leading to the dismissal of Ivan Juric.
It took only 17 minutes for the hosts to find the back of the net, as David Neres opened the scoring with his first goal for the club in 11 months.
The Brazilian doubled his tally few minutes later, getting on the end of a Scott McTominay’s pass and firing past Marco Carnesecchi in the Atalanta goal.
The champions added a third before halftime with their third shot on target in the clash as Noa Lang headed home after good work from Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Gianlucca Scamacca, who had come into the game at halftime, gave the visitors a sort of lifeline with a brilliant volley in the 52nd minute.
They pushed closer to another goal, but were denied by a couple of wasteful finishes as the scores remained 3-1 in favor of Napoli.
Ademola Lookman endured another disappointing performance in front of goal and was taken off in the 82nd minute for Daniel Maldini.
Palladino eyes improvement for Atalanta
The 41-year-old took charge of his new side for the first time, although it was a big ask to expect a win against the reigning champions.
Atalanta shrugged off a poor first half performance and improved in the second half, but could not avoid another league defeat.
Speaking after the clash, the former Fiorentina manager hailed their second half performance and expects much intensity in coming matches.
“We expected an aggressive Napoli right from the start. They were good at coming man on man, we had thought of Pasalic in that position precisely to attract pressure and find more dribbling, but we couldn’t put him in ideal conditions”, the Atalanta manager said.
“The first half was misinterpreted, thanks also to the opponents. I’m sorry for the third goal: we could have avoided it and kept the game alive. Except for a very positive second half: great character, great reaction. It’s Atalanta I want to see.”
On the players performances
“Gianluca entered with the right spirit. I also liked the others who took over: they all brought courage and quality.
I have a strong striker park: today Scamacca scored, but we were also close to the goal with De Ketelaere, with Lookman, with Samardzic. I expect a lot from them: they did a great job and there is a lot to build on”, the 41-year-old continued.
Atalanta remain in the bottom half of the standings after their latest defeat and now face Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
