Silverware is now up for grabs folks! After a very nervy 2nd half, Atalanta finally completed its mission of reaching its second Coppa Italia final in three years, hoping for a better result than the defeat at the hands of Lazio in 2019. A convincing 3-1 victory almost wasn’t to be. After being quite unlucky to not nab an away goal away last week in a nil nil draw, Atalanta almost derailed the train; coming out of yesterday’s 2nd half incredibly shaky. Visions of dropping points to Bologna and Torino were coming back, and at times it was more when than if Atalanta was going to concede again and be level at two goals with Gattuso’s boys.
But ultimately in the end, Atalanta proved they were the better team over the two legs. An absent Koulibaly and Manolas was desperately needed for Napoli, whose backline made numerous simple mental errors and eventually conceded a masterful nutmeg/chip combo goal by Monza’s own Matteo Pessina. The joy on Pessina’s face when he scores, and his elation hugging fellow local boy Mattia Caldara summed up every Atalantini’s feelings; unadulterated happiness. But perhaps more important is the ability to breathe a collective sigh of relief that the match was put out of reach.
Atalanta’s biggest criticism this year has been the propensity to let teams crawl back into games, most recently last week against Torino (we don’t need to talk about that again). And it nearly happened again. As hot as Atalanta can get for ten to fifteen minutes, they can easily fall asleep for an equal period of time – letting opponents score in droves as easily as they can bang them in. The fortitude to ride the ship after Lozano’s goal after some wonky bounces could have been the beginning of the end for Atalanta. Napoli was gaining confidence, Osimhen was growing into the game, and if not for a brilliant save by Gollini against the Nigerian, the game would have been level at two.
But the bottle job was not to be this time around.
The Gollini save was huge, and it woke the club from its slumber who were then determined to test Ospina from all kinds of angles. While Atalanta wasn’t able to score on numerous chances they were afforded – and required a masterful piece of skill to score the dagger goal, it was nonetheless encouraging to see Atalanta shift the balance of the game back in their direction. Ilicic and Zapata made life extremely difficult for a shaky Rrahmani and Maksimovic backline, and the team fought tooth and nail to force Napoli to play Atalanta’s game and not the other way around. It was a huge statement win, not only to advance to the Coppa Italia finals, but to help put the argument to bed that they struggle putting away matches.
Now with a three months break until the Coppa Italia final against Juventus, Atalanta still has plenty to do before thinking about lifting its first topflight trophy since 1963. The games are still coming in hot and heavy, and Real Madrid looms large next week in Champion’s League. But for now let’s just enjoy the moment and give kudos to a club that has had to endure a brutal fixture schedule – and gave us something to get behind throughout this ridiculous year. Fantastic win today boys, and let’s always keep fighting; Forza La Dea!!!
