Football Season Guide

Atalanta begin their third season with coach Gian Piero Gasperini at the helm and, once again, they will aim at fighting for a place among the top 7, which would grant them another qualification to the European competitions. In the past campaign Atalanta had a rather slow start, also due to their European commitments, and they increased their pace only towards spring, when they eventually made it to the Europa League qualifying rounds despite failing to win any of the last 3 games played. For such reason, their new season started earlier than all the other Serie A sides, as they first had to get rid of FK Sarajevo (10-2 aggregately) and will next be facing Hapoel Haifa. A success over the Israelis will grant them access to the Europa League Group stage. The transfer campaign saw them parting ways with 4 regulars. In particular, they lost two key players in Mattia Caldara and Bryan Cristante, who left for Juventus, eventually Milan, and Roma respectively. The former will be missed for his solidity in the heart of the defence and also for his contribution in terms of goals (10 in 2 seasons). The latter, instead, had become a protagonist thanks to his versatility, he could cover any position in the midfield, and for his impressive scoring rate when acting as an attacking midfielder (12 goals in the last season, also considering the European run). Leonardo Spinazzola and Andrea Petagna were the other regulars who also had to go but, while the former’s past season was plagued by injuries which prevented him from proving again all his worth, the latter certainly confirmed his fighting attitude but also his ineffectiveness up-front (he scored just 11 goals in 75 fixtures). In terms of new signings, Atalanta strengthened their attack with another heavy-weight striker, Duvan Zapata, from Sampdoria, hoping that he will score more than his predecessor. Just as well, the Polish Arkadiusz Reca will be expected to replace Spinazzola on the left flank of the midfield. On the other hand, players like Marco Tumminello, Mario Pasalic and Davide Bettella should only provide depth in the squad. With Atalanta still adopting a 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-2-1 formation, the young Gianluca Mancini will be earning a more relevant role in the heart of the defence, with Juan Palomino still providing cover for all the 3 centre-backs. In the attack, wunderkind Musa Barrow is also set to become a steady protagonist, especially if Alejandro Gomez quits.