Atalanta’s problem with the park bus continued Monday night against one of Serie A’s toughest backlines. In a match that saw very few shots outside of set pieces, the dice rolls just weren’t in La Dea’s favor as Skriniar’s decisive ping-pong goal saw the Serie A leaders earn three points. Ultimately the match came down to corner kicks… Obviously Skriniar came through, but Zapata and Djimsiti were each denied a set piece goal thanks to some awesome saves by the Balkan tandem of Handanovic and Brozovic.
Frankly, the game deserved a draw. Inter had an excellent set-up that had Atalanta barely sniffing the goal, even though La Dea held a bulk of the possession. Oppositely, Djimsiti and Romero were rocks denying Lautaro and Lukaku of doing any damage; with Inter’s only shot on goal being Skriniar’s winner. It’s a tough loss to swallow, but the club should still hold its head high after fighting toe-to-toe with the odds on favorite to win the Scudetto.
Going into the match, I fully anticipated an epic battle between Lukaku and Romero. Surprisingly Gasperini opted to put Djimsiti on Lukaku, with Romero guarding Lautaro. In the end it worked quite well. Djimsiti only got beat once on pace, and Romero was just everywhere – as well as making an epic tackle on Lukaku’s 1 v 1 chance against Sporti. Neither striker got a shot on goal and it was all due to the dynamite work of Djimsiti and Romero. Normally this type of defensive performance would lead to a victory, but on the other side of the pitch Inter’s back three put in an equally good performance.
While Atalanta’s defense was noteworthy, the match’s outcome came down to Conte’s strong defensive setup that clogged the middle of the pitch and consistently saw nine or ten men behind the ball. De Vrij is always a steady rock in the middle, and Skriniar put a good shift in on Zapata who only got two good chances on goal – nearly scoring if not for Handanovic’s great reflex save. Additionally Barella and Brozovic covered cavernous amounts of space – and while Atalanta was afforded a lion’s share of the possession in Inter’s third, La Dea still couldn’t muster many opportunities in the box. Catenaccio was in full-swing for Inter, and brought to light Atalanta’s biggest problem this yaer…. beating the bus.
It was a surprise to see Malinovskyi get the start – especially with Ilicic available, on good form, and perhaps the best chance Atalanta had to pick a good spot to spin a piece of magic. However, Ilicic was neutralized and in fact Pessina and Malinovskyi were more active and lively up front. I’d have liked to see Malinovskyi get more than 45 minutes of game time together, as the front three of Zapata, Matteo, and Ruslan looked to be making in roads into the belly of the beast toward the end of the first half. I can understand Gasperini’s decision to bring in Ilicic to try to dissect the defense, but in retrospect I wish the starting front line got some more time to gel together. Pessina and Malinovskyi were working well together, and Pessina had some awesome touches that put him into some great scoring positions (only if he had a right foot!).
Ilicic on the other hand, was on the wrong side of his mercurial spectrum. He dwelled on the ball too much, and didn’t just wasn’t his usual self. Plus, he continually ignores Maehle! He never offers him a pass on the overlap and it even appears to now that he actively looks elsewhere when he needs to pass. On top of it, he took a throw in when Maehle was right there to do his duty as a wingback, and Ilicic didn’t even look his way. Low key, I’m actually starting to wonder if doesn’t even trust Maehle, and will be something I definitely look for in future games. Needless to say, Ilicic provided very little in trying to beat the bus, and Atalanta is still searching for how to unlock it’s Achilles Heel this year, and more soul searching needs to be done.
Despite dropping points today and losing a winnable (or at least “tie”able) match, there’s still a lot of positives to be taken out of this match. A dynamite defensive performance, a strong midfield display from the pivot, and Pessina, Malinovskyi, plus Zapata seeming to gel together – Atalanta still demonstrated Top 4 potential and fought tooth and nail with the best club in the league. It feels weird saying let’s carry momentum forward after a loss, but it does apply. Everyone looked the part today, and similar to the Madrid match fought like lions to stifle the best attack and one of the best defenses in Serie A. Onwards to Spezia, and we won’t let one loss get in our way! As always, Forza Dea!
