La Dea go into the Warsaw clash as outsiders.
But Gasperini says: “Atalanta are not struggling. We are here to play an incredibly prestigious game with our usual enthusiasm and desire to amaze.
“We are playing against the most successful club in the world, we’ll give it all our pride to try and play a great game.
“Obviously, you want to reach this event at the top of your capabilities, but I have to say often when we had big matches, like the trip to Liverpool or elsewhere, we were missing some key players there too. I always asked the lads to give their all, without worrying about who was or wasn’t there.”
On facing Real's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, Gasperini smiled: “What Carlo has done over the years is there for all to see, he is one of the most successful coaches in the world and a reference point for so many.
“We were on that Coverciano course together, we’ve known each other a long time and there is certainly a rapport of great mutual respect.
“It’s wonderful to meet in this event. Naturally, he’s more accustomed to it than I am, but it’s a fine achievement for me to be here too.”
He added, “On paper we are even more unlikely to win than we were against Bayer Leverkusen, but the motivation is even bigger for us. It doesn’t always happen, but in football sometimes you can upset the predictions."