The story of Atalanta, the most entertaining Serie A team
Juventus will retain the Serie A title, but it is Atalanta who have captured everyone’s attention with their exciting footballing outlay.
The season has seen Ciro Immobile lead Serie A scoring charts. Cristiano Ronaldo, the type of player you’d have your chips on in a AAMS CASINO, is not far behind but the Portuguese’s inauspicious start to the season has consigned him to second place in Capocannoniere race.
Josip Ilic (pictured) is fifth in the top scorers list, with Atalanta teammates Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata following him. Left-back Robin Gosens also makes the list but is far down the list. La Dea have been the most prolific scorers in Serie A and Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have caught everyone’s imagination.
Atalanta are not part of your regular bigwigs. They are on course to qualify for UEFA Champions League qualification for the second year in running, a big feat for a side from Bergamo. Afterall, the area’s population is 120,000 and they are not expected to be fighting for top honors.
La Dea’s progression is similar to Gaspirini’s own career path. The Juventus youth academy graduate had a journeyman’s career, playing in the lower echelons of Italian football.
His managerial trajectory had a similar curve. Starting at Juventus’ youth academy, Crotone’s first team came his way after a 10-year struggle. His success propelled a move to Genoa, where he proved his mettle. A high profile move to Inter Milan materialized but he could only last three months. It was back to grind at the lower levels, until Atalanta approached him in 2016.
The club’s fortunes have changed since his appointment. They have finished top-four in their last three seasons and their current result will make it three in four attempts. That is a great turnaround for a side that was resigned to bottom half finishes in the previous five years in Italian top flight.
It begs the question that Atalanta with the 13th biggest budget managed to overcome the odds. True to Gaspirini’s ideology, the Gli Orobici play possession-based football. But it is an understatement of what they do on the pitch. Their high intensity approach to the game catches opposition off-guard. Hence, the amount of goals they have scored. Sitting in fourth place, they have scored 14 more goals than the next most prolific side in Italy.
But it is not an error-free tactic and it leaves a lot of holes. Something that has been exploited as well. Atalanta do not manage clean sheets, their last one was ten games ago, the 0-7 drubbing of Torino at the end of January. They have managed 9 wins and have yet to taste defeat in this period, which shows their attacking prowess far exceeds their defensive abilities.
Atalanta’s defense is porous, the second worst of Serie A’s top 10 sides. But their attack compensates for it and they have the best goal difference in the entire league. Better than Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus and Antonio Conte’s thrifty Inter Milan. This is why they have three forwards in the top seven listing for the Capocannoniere race.
Josip Illic with his exploits in Serie A and Champions League is the standard bearer for Atalanta. The wide-man turned forward is an awkward Messi-esque figure in the line-up. But it is Duvan Zapata, who is the recognized target man. The Colombian had a late start to the campaign due to injury but did not let it affect him. His 14 goals have come from 16 starts.
Illic and Zapata are favorably assisted by Luis Muriel. The former Sevilla man has only started 9 games, with most of his appearances coming from the bench (16).
And then there is Alejandro Gomez, the playmaker on whose creativity Atalanta runs. After struggling to find his place, Papu has been in Bergamo for the last six years. Like his fellow forwards, Papu shares a common trait with Gasperini, they have travelled across Europe and found a home in Lombardy.
They were cast off but punched over their weight thanks to their tenacity. They are those who do not give up. They are Atalanta, without much history but everyone has a story. Together, they are formidable and the most exciting team in Serie A.
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