Gasperini bemoans VAR decisions in Torino stalemate

Atalanta spurned a chance from the penalty spot in the second half, with Torino leaving Bergamo with a 1-1 draw after Guillermo Maripan cancelled out Berat Djimsiti's opener.

Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saved Mateo Retegui's 74th-minute effort from 12 yards, while Raoul Bellanova saw a goal disallowed for handball, a decision which frustrated Gasperini.

It means that Atalanta have now drawn four of their last six matches in Serie A (W1 L1), as many as they had recorded in their previous 36 outings in the competition combined.

As well as the disallowed goal, Gasperini also felt they should have had another penalty.

"There are episodes such as the penalty not given and Bellanova's goal, they weigh because they are VAR decisions," Gasperini told reporters.

"Today more than a little was taken from us. We need to understand who referees football matches, whether it is the one on the pitch or the one at the VAR.

"We need to focus on VAR because who referees on the field no longer counts for anything."

FULL TIME | Finisce in pareggio.It finishes all square.@acqua_lete | #AtalantaTorino 1-1 #GoAtalantaGo pic.twitter.com/wppi9eCUAb

— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) February 1, 2025

Atalanta have scored the most headed goals in the big five European leagues this season (11), ahead of Nottingham Forest (10).

They have also netted at least one goal in each of their last 27 home matches in Serie A; only Inter (33) are currently on a longer run than La Dea.

Atalanta had 22 chances (worth 2.97 expected goals) compared to Torino's five (0.58 xG), leaving Gasperini unimpressed with the visitors' lack of attacking effort.

"It would be hard to find an opponent in the league who managed to do so little, even though they are a good team," Gasperini said.

"The only mistake we made was the error on their headed goal. Then, getting past the Torino defence is not that easy, we were missing something."

Atalanta were without injured forward Ademola Lookman and had to replace goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi following the pre-match warm-up. However, Gianluca Scamacca made his first appearance of the season, coming on as a late substitute.

The striker, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a pre-season friendly, appeared to struggle after replacing Retegui with five minutes remaining.

"Scamacca, unfortunately, had to stop. After a minute he had a quadriceps problem, a shame because he has been doing tests and trials for several weeks," Gasperini added.