Date: March 8, 2021
Time: 18:45 CET
Monday Night Football is here! And no we’re not talking about some poorly commentated game by ESPN’s Joe Tessitore; this time it’s the European variety! It’s quite rare to get such an important match on Monday in Serie A, and for both Inter and Atalanta huge points are on the line. For Inter, they can continue their stranglehold on top of Serie A. For Atalanta, they can further cement their place in the Top 4. The first match this season was a relatively equal contest; and a debatable non-penalty call against Miranchuk was the only thing that kept Atalanta from potentially collecting three points. One will hope that La Dea can come out on the front foot this match, unsettle the storming Lukaku, and keep up their fiery away form.
Serie A’s man of the month Romelu Lukaku will be Romero’s biggest challenge of the new year. After keeping tabs on Ibrahimovic in January, it gives you confidence that he can put together an equally stellar performance against a target man of similar quality, however one that is pacier. Lukaku’s pace isn’t what concerns me about the Romero vs. Lukaku battle (as Romero has demonstrated he can hang with many forwards), but rather minimizing mistakes. Romero’s misplay on Crotone’s first goal midweek wasn’t one that would give anyone PTSD, but oppositely Romero cannot afford to get overly aggressive with a man that will muscle him up for the entire 90 minutes. A quick yellow against Romero will minimize his ability to body Lukaku, so staying calm in this interesting battle should help Romero in his quest to get the upper hand on Inter’s Number 9.
The flow of the match will be dictated by who wins this battle. If Lukaku can outdo the Argentinian with good link up play, Atalanta will have to get creative on how to contain the Belgian and the dangerous Hakimi that will be rearing to fly down the flank on the end of a successful Lukaku hold-up and pass. If Romero can put Lukaku in his pocket, Atalanta should be licking it’s chops to set up it’s high press and high flying offense.
On the opposite side of the pitch, Atalanta will have to figure out how to muster up enough offense to neutralize Conte’s back three. In their last three encounters, Atalanta has only mustered two goals. While Inter’s defense has been a sieve at times, they have been very successful at breaking down Gasperini’s attack. Miranchuk had his best performance of the season against Inter to slot home his first ever Serie A goal. Miranchuk may not feature – unfortunately, based on his last performance against Inter – so the offense will have to come on the connection between Ilicic and Zapata. Asides from his dumb back-passes against Crotone, Ilicic was sublime, and we can only hope that he is rearing back into form he was showing in January. The lack of a good defensive option on the left flank for Inter will hopefully pull Bastoni further out to guard Ilicic, and perhaps leave enough of an opening for one of the Colombians to get enough space to beat the steady Skriniar and de Vrij. If Ilicic can get the space to swing in lovely curlers, I feel confident at the prospect at one of Zapata, Muriel, or Gosens being on the receiving end of a ball to fire one home past the sometimes statuesque Handanovic.
Monday games are nervy…. especially with another match coming up on Friday (not a whole lot of time between matches!) The last time we played on a Monday – if I’m not mistaken – Atalanta lost at home to a last placed SPAL club almost 14 months ago. Not saying I’m superstitious (I am!), but let’s right that horrible wrong. Of course a win would be fantastic against the Serie A leaders, but playing hot from the start is enough for me – then the result should follow. Atalanta was trailing both matches after like 5 minutes last campaign, and it took about 60 minutes for La Dea to get up to speed in November’s match. Atalanta has won three straight away matches in Serie A, Monday is as good as any other day to make it four in a row! As always, Forza Dea!!!
