Atalanta won 3-0 as De Roon, one of Gasperini’s coaches on the pitch, adapted, not for the first time, to a role in the back three. Lookman and De Ketelaere have become unplayable.

Sometimes during my interview with him, to promote his new game Rise of the Argonauts, due out on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this autumn, I wonder if his body has somehow lost the need to draw breath.