Atalanta's Serie A title ambitions had already vanished following their loss to Inter earlier this month, Gian Piero Gasperini said after they went down 1-0 at Fiorentina.

Atalanta, who are third in the Italian top flight, lost 2-0 at home to the Nerazzurri in their final match before the international break.

On Sunday, Moise Kean scored the only goal as they were deservedly beaten 1-0 by Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

This is the first time they have lost two league games in a row since going down to Torino and Inter in August, but Gasperini does not believe Sunday's defeat was the fatal blow to their Scudetto aspirations.

"It was an impossible dream that I think disappeared in the game against Inter. But we had played well there," Gasperini told reporters.

La Dea now have just a three-point cushion to fifth-placed Juventus, with the likes of Bologna, Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina also hunting a Champions League spot.

Gasperini continued: "Now we have teams that have made streaks of important results and there are still eight games. We have a bit of an advantage and we will play five home games out of eight.

"We will immediately have direct clashes with Lazio and Bologna on which the standings will depend, but the others must also clash with each other. We have to come to this period strong."

Atalanta, who have never won the Italian top flight, did not register a single shot on target – the first time they have failed to do so in Serie A since February 2023 (versus Milan).

"Today, we didn't shoot on goal, despite the fact that there were the conditions to be much more dangerous," Gasperini said.

Atalanta assistant manager Tullio Gritti was filling in for Gasperini on the touchline, as he served a one-match ban after being shown a red card during their defeat to Inter.

The visitors had more possession after the break but failed to create chances, leading Gritti to make changes to their frontline.

Atalanta started Italy striker Mateo Retegui, who recently withdrew from international duty with a thigh issue. However, both Retegui and Ademola Lookman were replaced after 55 minutes.

"These are games in which there is no middle ground, and this is Atalanta. Retegui was back, and in the first half he was the most dynamic, but making him play 90 minutes was a risk," Gasperini said.

"Lookman returned on Friday but he is the one who creates liveliness and speed in attack. The others want more of the ball on them.

"Then we tried with [Daniel] Maldini, with [Lazar] Samardzic, [Marco] Brescianini and [Juan] Cuadrado, but up front it was a generalised lack of the right speed."