By Korede James
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick believes Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman will be a big miss for Atalanta in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash.
Atalanta travelled to Spain on Tuesday without the injured Lookman as the Italian side hope to book their place in the round of 16.
Lookman has suffered a knee injury and will remain out of action for at least one month, according to reports.
The reigning African Player of the Year has scored 10 goals and provided five assists in 19 Serie A appearances this season.
In this season’s Champions League, he has netted four times and made one assist in six matches.
“Obviously, when you are missing such an important player it affects you. But Gasperini knows his team very well, and I don’t think he will change his style that much,” Flick told reporters.
“He has a very trained automatism, and I don’t think he will change his plan much.
“It is always difficult to play against Italians because they defend very well. Atalanta play one-against-one all over the field, they make very fast transitions, and we have talked about it with the team and how we want to play against them.”
While Barcelona have already booked their place in the first knockout round, Atalanta need an outright win to guarantee their place in the next round.
The current UEFA Europa League champions are in seventh place in the table, while Barcelona are second.
The top eight teams in the 36-team table will advance to the round of 16, while the next 16 will go into the playoffs for the remaining eight spots.
