On Tuesday night, Chelsea will play Atalanta in the Champions League at the Gewiss Stadium. They want to turn their great European form into consistency after a tough week at home.
Enzo Maresca’s team is feeling good going into matchday six after beating Barcelona 3-0 in the last round. This win greatly improved their chances of automatically qualifying for the last 16.
The Blues are currently in seventh place in the league phase standings. If they stay there, they will move on to the next round without having to play in a playoff. However, they are tied with Atalanta on 10 points.
The London club have done very well in Europe, winning three of their last four Champions League matches. However, their momentum in the Premier League has slowed since they lost 3-1 to Leeds United and drew 0-0 with Bournemouth over the weekend.
Tuesday’s game in Bergamo will be the first time the two clubs have played each other in a competitive match. Chelsea have a strong recent record in Italy, having won their last three European away games against Serie A teams without conceding a goal.
Raffaele Palladino is now in charge of the home team after Gian Piero Gasperini left for Roma. Their intense man-marking system makes them a unique tactical challenge. A win for either team would be a massive step toward finishing in the top eight, but a loss could put them back in the playoff race.
Chelsea boss Maresca talks about playing against Atalanta
Before the game, Maresca discussed his personal relationship with Atalanta coach Raffaele Palladino and warned his players about the tactical challenges they would face against the Italian team. The Chelsea manager said that Palladino had come to the club’s training ground before to learn about his methods:
“When I arrived at Juve, Raffaele was there with Gasperini as the coach in the youth team, and every now and then he’d come to the senior squad. Before he took over Atalanta, he came to London to study some of our training sessions, we stayed in contact, so yes we know each other well.”
Even though the dugouts are familiar with each other, Maresca said that the way the Italian giants play is still a dangerous threat. He talked about how Atalanta’s aggressive defense has become a key part of their identity in recent years.
“There are always risks, Atalanta are a very aggressive team who play a particular type of football, we’ll try to do our best to get the win. I think Serie A changed a lot, from different points of view.
“The main one probably is in terms of tactical, now many teams try to do something similar to what Atalanta has done in the last years with Gasperini, so you can see most of the team play five at the back, most of the team try to play man-to-man everywhere.”