The encouraging part of Duván Zapata's doctor who excites Atalanta

Duván Zapata is close to returning to the courts after three months of inactivity, and his technical director, one of his teammates and the doctor who treated him, talked about the illusion that his improvement arouses.

Gian Piero Gasperini, coach of Atalanta, referred to the impact of Luis Fernando Muriel's injuries, especially at the start of the season; of Josip Ilicic, another of the team's pillars in recent years, and, of course, del Toro, the team's best player in the first half of the season.

After the 1-3 defeat to Napoli last Sunday, he said:

On the 30-year-old Caleño, who has 12 goals and 7 assists in 2021/22, the Italian helmsman added: “His characteristics are unique to our team, he gives presence and depth in the area while the other strikers start from further afield. Their presence will benefit the entire team.”

But the praise for Zapata came not only from his coach, but also from one of his teammates, the Dutchman Martin de Roon, who scored the only goal of the Bergamo team in their most recent match.

Although Atalanta was reinforced with an attacker like Jerémie Boga, from Sassuolo, in the winter transfer market, de Roon acknowledged the lack that the coffee player does on the offensive front, not only to score, but to make rivals uncomfortable.

“Duvan Zapata is very important to us, we miss him a lot. Hold the ball, score, upset the defense. We are happy to have it again, but we must be careful with it because last time we lost it for another three months,” he said in conversation with DAZN.

The surgeon who treated him, Lasse Lempainen, was also positive with the recovery of El Toro after diagnosing him with a right adductor injury with tendon involvement. According to him, the therapy performed to avoid surgery was a success, although he will carry out one more medical evaluation.

“When are you coming back? It's not for me to say. But I really think they'll see him again at the end of this season. You can now start training with the team to find the best athletic condition. Maybe I won't play the ninety minutes right away: you usually start in stages, 10-15 minutes per game... I am convinced that it will return even better than before,” he added.

It is expected that he will be able to count on his first minutes of play on Thursday, April 7, for the Europa League quarterfinals, visiting RB Leipzig. The urgency of his return is also due to the position Atalanta occupies today in Calcio, the seventh, because he is running out of space in continental competitions.

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