Date: February 28, 2021
Time: 12:30 CET
After a hard fought, albeit, heart breaking midweek encounter with Real Madrid, Atalanta is right back at it seeking revenge against a Sampdoria club that stifled La Dea’s attack last time out. Sampdoria was the first club to implement a solid defensive/counter attacking setup, convincingly handing La Dea a 3-1 defeat at home. Firmly entrenched mid-table, Sampdoria’s form always seems as such; wins, losses, and a few draws kind of thrown randomly across their fixtures like darts. As Sampdoria sits 10th in the league, it feels hard to think of another word to describe the Genoa club rather than average. nine wins, 11 losses, a -1 goal differential, and a coach that has been everywhere across Europe, they embody midtable; which isn’t a bad thing!
They’ll win their fair share of contests against better competition, and lose some headscratchers, but ultimately in the end you’re not surprised when they finish somewhere between 9th and 12th on the table. If the law of averages have anything in store for us this weekend, we should restore balance by righting the wrong of defeat earlier this year. If we can beat the bus, then we’ve got a fantastic chance, but it’s a bigger IF unfortunately than one may like.
Going back to Wednesday, Atalanta will have four matches in ten days to prepare for, and fatigue will have to become an issue at some point. Playing with 10 men against Real, and having razor thin options at wingback and midfield, rotation will be necessary and expected at some point. Fortunately with Crotone midweek, La Dea may have the opportunity to tinker midweek with less risk; but I’d be hesitant to do it against Sampdoria. Freuler will have the legs to go – given his unfortunate red card – and help to lessen the burden on de Roon, but I do have serious concerns about the stamina of Gosens and Maehle.
Both Maehle and Gosens have shown excellent fortitude to play all out without breaks, and unfortunately without Hans Hateboer they’ll continue to be asked to do more than they conceivably should be. While Ruggeri and Sutalo are options, there is such a noticeable drop off in form when they feature, putting even more strain on the midfield to command the space that the less pacey younger options cannot cover. I still cannot imagine where we’d be without Maehle. While he’s a different player than Hateboer, he slots in so nicely on the wing and already seems to have a great relationship working with Toloi and de Roon.
Offensively, I’m very curious what Gasperini’s mood for Ilicic is right now. Zapata is probably not going to feature due to a slight injury, so there is no way the Colombian duo can both start. Knowing that, does Gasperini opt for Ilicic who brazenly stormed into the locker room upon being substituted against Madrid? – quite poor form in my opinion – Knowing the Papu saga, does Gasp punish Ilicic for his indiscretion or rely on him to lead the attack? His form has been average recently, so its not as if Atalanta is missing a key component of their recent offensive success. Therefore, seeing Malinovskyi or Lesha wouldn’t be a surprise; but again, Crotone midweek…. But I’m keen to keep an eye on Ilicic over the next several weeks and see everyone’s, including Gasperini’s, appetite to the Slovenian.
By now most know I desperately want to see Lesha start, and would be ecstatic to see him get minutes in the starting XI. He’s been much more aggressive in his minutes on the pitch, and I personally think he’s starting to come around and can be ready to feature more consistently. Perhaps Saturday’s the day, one can hope!
With three important points up for grabs, a lot can go right if Atalanta are successful in getting revenge over Sampdoria. With Roma and Milan playing each other this weekend, there is a great chance to either surpass Roma in the standings or inch closer to Milan, and make the Top-Four race even spicier. Not to mention, Lazio and Napoli have winnable (but not easy) matches, and each game is now becoming more and more important to hold serve in an incredibly clogged Top-Seven. While the Real Madrid match may have tugged at everyone’s heart strings, it still has to be satisfying for the club that only a 30 yard curler was what did them in. There’s a lot to build on from that performance. Even if it was a loss against the Spanish club on Wednesday, it had to instill a sense of defensive unity that has lacked at times and could potentially be a catalyst to be effective across the entire pitch. Let’s go get three points on Sunday boys, and as always Forza La Dea!
