Simon Kjær was not in the squad, as Atalanta on Wednesday played themselves further from the Champions League group stage with a 3-0 win at stamford bridge against Shakhtar Donetsk.

The first news was that He was injured, but it is not the reason why he did not come into consideration for the match, said the Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, according to Football Italia:

"I can also tell that Simon Kjær was not injured. The only reason he played today was that I decided something else."

"He's a great player, but is struggling to adapt to our style of play. He has a different character, and I have tested him, but have not been convinced," says the coach.

The Danish landsholdsanfører has not gotten much playing time since he moved to Italian Serie A club on a lease agreement in the summer transfervindue from the Spanish Seville.

He has been benched in over half of the team's Serie A games of the season and have only been full-time in two matches in the Atalanta defense in the league.

In the Champions League it has become to playing in a single match after the switch to Atalanta.

/ritzau/