Atalanta were largely being overlooked in the buildup to their match against Juventus this past weekend but, when the final whistle blew, Gian Piero Gasperini and his players had once again grabbed the spotlight.
The Sunday evening kickoff has always been reserved for Serie A’s biggest game, with this week’s edition viewed by many – including La Gazzetta dello Sport – as Juve’s opportunity to re-enter the title race.
Yet rather than the Bianconeri becoming Scudetto contenders, they were handed a 4-0 thrashing that served as a reality check for their entire project under Thiago Motta. The result was discussed in this previous column and has put the Juve boss under intense pressure, but the real story should be their opponents.
Atalanta ready to cause another upset?
Indeed, the Monday morning editions of Italy’s newspapers (see below) discussed how Atalanta “taught Motta a lesson” and discussed how Juve had been “humiliated by Gasperini.”
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Yet what that resounding victory also did was move the Bergamo-based side to just three points behind league leaders Inter, who must travel to the Gewiss Stadium next weekend for another blockbuster encounter.
Victory there would blow the Serie A title race wide open. Second-placed Napoli currently sit just one point behind Inter, but have only won one of their last six games which has allowed other teams to catch up.
That of course includes Atalanta, who have spent the last few seasons repeatedly defying the odds to outshine many of Italian football’s grander names. So while Juve, AC Milan and others limp from crisis to crisis, La Dea have firmly established themselves as genuine contenders.
Gasperini’s exploits with Atalanta have been discussed at length – including in this previous column – but some details are worth reiterating. Buying the stadium from the local council for around €9 million ($9.76 million) and renovating it has given the club a solid foundation, while their approach to transfers has made them a blueprint others should model themselves upon.
Atalanta are Italy’s standout side
According to TransferMarkt, Atalanta have generated €521 million ($565.01 million) in player sales since the start of the 2019/20 season, a figure which ranks as the eighth highest figure in all of European football and the second highest figure for any Italian club.
Meanwhile, their spending on players over the same period stands at €370 million ($401.25 million) to give them a transfer balance of +€152 million ($164.84 million), buying and selling players including Alessandro Bastoni, Rasmus Højlund, Dejan Kulusevski and Cristian Romero without affecting Atalanta’s on-field performances.
Recent seasons have seen them reach the Coppa Italia Final and rack up third placed finishes in Serie A, while last season’s UEFA Europa League triumph stands out as the absolute highlight thus far.
That achievement saw Gasperini’s men join AS Roma’s Conference League winning side from 2022 as the only Italian sides to win a European trophy since Inter lifted the Champions League crown way back in 2010.
Gasperini gives Atalanta a tactical edge
The Coach has built numerous different versions of his team, recently adding a tactical flexibility that had often been absent from his approach. Having previously been steadfast in his use of a 3-4-1-2/3-4-2-1 system, Gasperini now routinely tweaks his setup to both nullify the strengths of opponents and exploit their weaknesses.
Both were on show this past weekend. Much of Juve’s positive attacking play has come through Andrea Cambiaso on the left flank, so Gasperini started Juan Cuadrado wide on the right of a three-man front line to pin back the Italy international.
Then at half time, in the second half he flooded the central area with substitutes Marco Brescianini and Charles De Ketelaere, allowing Atalanta to control the game as Juve went chasing a result.
Instead, they were handed a footballing lesson by Gasperini, who refused to downplay the idea that Atalanta are now genuine contenders for the Serie A title during a post-match interview with DAZN.
“People need to dream, we must never stop them dreaming,” he said. “We may say it’s impossible but, if you believe enough, things can become possible. Atalanta had never reached this stage of the season three points clear of Juventus, we had never reached this stage of the season in the running for the top spot, so you never know.”
That cannot be denied, and nor can the fact that Gian Piero Gasperini has been the man to mastermind their rise to this lofty position. Atalanta have Italian football’s best Coach, and that gives them every right to dream of becoming Serie A champions when the 2024/25 season comes to an end.