Date: January 14, 2021
Time: 15:15 CEST
The Coppa Italia’s round of 16 doesn’t come at the greatest of times. After battling through a midweek fixture last week, and another midweek fixture the following week to make-up the washed out Udinese match, the Coppa almost feels like a minor nuisance in Atalanta’s fight to climb back into the Top 4 of the league. And while it may be a poorly timed fixture for the squad, it is hopefully a match to showcase the talents we’ve been patiently waiting for to feature in the club’s starting XI.
Cagliari has been on some pretty woeful form as of late – losing 4 straight matches in the league, and only two points clear from safety. If Gasperini is intent on making the Coppa on a priority, he should still have the flexibility to dig deep into his bench, and feature essentially a B-squad and still be competitive.
While the midfield duo of Gyabuaa and Depaoli is the obvious weak point -and perhaps a pipe dream (given Depaoli is technically a winger)- there is still quality all around the rest of the pitch from the club to continue doing Atalanta things. Lammers, Miranchuk, and Sutalo all have deserved more playing time than they have recently received, so I’m hoping all of them squeeze their way into the starting XI against Cagliari.
Especially Lammers and Miranchuk. Lammers absolutely rinsed Cagliari’s defense in the clubs’ first match-up of 2020 with one of my favorite goals of the year, and he’s had very few opportunities to show his form since the early part of the year. Granted, a lot of that has to do with the form of Duvan and Muriel, but the technical flashes of brilliance Lammers has shown makes me think he can still comfortably lead the line.
For his line leading companion, there’s absolutely no way Gasperini would bench Ilicic given his stellar form in league matches, giving even fewer chances for Miranchuk to acclimate and demonstrate his brilliance. It’s been a tough going for the Russian, who after his MOTM performance against Inter has shown very little. To be fair he hasn’t had the match time to mesh with the squad, but Thursday should be his first opportunity to demonstrate what he can really do, and start to answer more questions if he truly is an Ilicic-lite. I’ve been on the Miranchuk locomotive from the start, and relish every opportunity to see him play – and I hope a full 90 minutes in a less intense environment should help him to continue his acclimation and show off his chops.
Ultimately it will be a good match to watch with minimal stress, whereas instead we can play scout a little bit and see how some of the players that receive less playing time get along. To me the result isn’t as important, and even a loss wouldn’t anger me. If anything I want to see some of our new signings start to make an impact and demonstrate that they belong in the rotation for Serie A and UCL minutes. Plus we may get a chance to see our next number 10 coming through the ranks! Primavera member Alessandro Cortinovis was listed in the lineup. I highly encourage you to watch his Primavera compilation, and just dream on what we may have with him. All in all its fun to kick back and just watch football without any serious implications, so let’s enjoy it! If we advance great, if we don’t one less thing to worry about with bigger fish to fry. As always, Forza La Dea!
