Gasperini say Napoli offer is 'being married - but you meet a beautiful woman'

Gian Piero Gasperini made a surprising comparison between speculation connecting him to the managerial position at Napoli and adultery after celebrating Atalanta's dazzling Europa League victory in Dublin on Wednesday evening.

The Italian manager claimed his first major trophy after joining the Bergamo-based side in 2016 following their comprehensive 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen.

Xabi Alonso's team suffered their first defeat of the 2023-24 campaign as their miraculous unbeaten run came to an end at the Aviva Stadium, brought to a halt by a rampant Serie A side who had already qualified for next season's Champions League after a strong fifth-place finish.

The head coach was in high spirits after the trophy lift on the pitch, and took time to address his links away from the club to teams including Napoli, where manager Francesco Calzona has been in the dugout since February but is increasingly under-fire.

2022-23's Scudetto-winners finished 10th a year on from their historic title win, and Gasperini has been tied in the Italian press to replacing Calzona to start afresh next season at his club's rivals Atalanta.

'We are celebrating tonight, I will talk to the President tomorrow. We'll see,' Gasperini said when asked if he would be staying in his current role next season.

'I am in an odd situation sort of like where I am married with children, but meet an absolutely beautiful woman.

'Maybe that's not a good example for me to say on television!'

In reality, the 66-year-old is married, and has been since 1980, to his wife Christina, who previously worked as a school teacher.

The couple have two children, Davide and Andrea, neither of whom are connected to football, and for over 44 years, Christina has been one of her husband's