Claudio Ranieri has left his senior advisor role at AS Roma, the Serie A club said on Friday, a decision which comes in the wake of a fallout with manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

Gian Piero Gasperini is preparing for a big return to Atalanta on Saturday as his Roma team travel to Bergamo trying to stay in touch with Serie A's title chasers.

Balde was full of praise for Atalanta, who won last season's Europa League, but was left stumped by an Italian journalist's other question about their coach Gian Piero Gasperini's style of play at a press conference on Tuesday.

Gian Piero Gasperini lavished praise on his "incredible" Atalanta players after they stunned Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League and claim their first ever continental honour.