Date: September 25, 2021
Time: 18:30 CET
Midweek matchweek 5 has barely finished and the next round of matches is already kicking off this weekend. The challenge doesn’t get any easier for Atalanta, facing Scudetto favorites Inter Milan away at the San Siro. Both clubs will need to look ahead to midweek football next week – with Milan having the unfortunate pleasure to fly off to Ukraine. However, with Champion’s League over the horizon, neither club can afford to take Saturday lightly. Specifically for La Dea. After what was a rocky start in the first five matches of the season, a victory would have both clubs tied on points – which seems a far cry from reality just based on the eye test.
Fortunately, the points table is what matters and Atalanta has a huge opportunity to make a firm statement to assert itself high up on the table, rather than its normal position having to chip away at the standings as the winter comes along. Inter, however, will be Atalanta’s biggest test of the season so far – if not the biggest test of the season. Even after losing Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, Inter somehow seemed to not miss a beat, and may have even gotten stronger. The signings of Hakan Calhanoglu, Edin Dzeko, Joaquin Correa, and Denzel Dumfries are excellent reinforcements – and have all nicely assimilated into Simone Inzahgi’s rotation. An approach, mind you, that has Inter scoring for fun – putting away 18 goals already in five matches. It will be a real test for Atalanta’s backline that will need to do its part in order to supplement an offense that has struggled to score mightily against Inter in the past two years.
Inter Player To Watch – Edin Dzeko
Dzeko has oft been criticized the last few years for slowing down and sometimes even lacking effort – it went as far as him being stripped of the captain’s arm band last year at Roma. Anyone who has watched Serie A the last few years knows of the quality Dzeko possesses. He doesn’t just score, but he is also one of the top hold up players in the league too. Dzeko has already put away four goals this, including an assist, and looks reborn under Inzaghi. A change of scenery from Roma was most likely due for the Bosnian, and he’s still demonstrating his quality and making Interisti a bit happier about cashing in for Romelu Lukaku.
The bigger challenge with Dzeko up front for Atalanta is establishing a man marking system that can take on two strikers, as its increasingly rare to see two striker setups in Serie A. Palomino would be able to do a good job on Dzeko, if he was the only one up front, but what does Atalanta then do to mark Lautaro Martinez? Its a tall order for Atalanta’s defense to handle two excellent forwards, not to mention all the wonderful attacking players to compliment the strikers like Barella, Calhanoglu, and Dumfries. Its not hard to see how Inter have been averaging 3.5 goals per game so far, and will probably put Atalanta on the backfoot much more than the guys have been accustomed to when facing off against Conte’s Inter.
Predicted Atalanta Starting XI
Atalanta will have to begin contending with fixture congestion and player fatigue, but Saturday does not feel like the match to get cute with the lineup card. BSC Young Boys is a worthy Champion’s League opponent, but is a much more reasonable foe to get creative with the lineup against. Matteo Pessina is dealing with a foot contusion, so its doubtful that he starts on Saturday, but pretty much every other position should be settled. The main question is who occupies the two attacking midfield roles. While Malinovskyi and Ilicic have not jived together yet on the pitch, it may be Gasperini’s best tandem with Pessina in question.
Atalanta Tid-Bits
-Antonio Conte’s Inter squad gave Atalanta the most troubles out of any team that last few years. In the past two seasons, Atalanta only put away two goals against Inter, the fewest amount of goals in that timespan out of any club in Serie A.
-Aleksey Miranchuk scored in his Champion’s League, Coppa Italia, and Serie A debuts last year. His Serie A debut happened to be against Inter, in which he was excellent. Don’t be surprised to see him come in as a change of pace if either of Malinovskyi or Ilicic is not up to snuff.
-The last time Atalanta beat Inter in the San Siro was March 23, 2014, with a brace from Giacamo Bonaventura. It has been so long since Atalanta earned three points against Inter on the road, it even precedes Davide Zappacosta’s time with the club – who came to Bergamo a year later.
Five games completed, and Atalanta is sitting in fifth place. Ask most Atalanta fans and they’d be pleased with this outcome, especially with how the team has performed in the early part of the season. Tied for 6th fewest goals in the league doesn’t exactly scream confidence, but directionally Atalanta has to be satisfied with where the team is going. After being down in the valley, La Dea look to be picking up steam to chug up the Serie A mountain. Wins or points against the two Milan sides would go an awfully long way in reaffirming that sentiment. Atalanta has the chops to hang with Inter, who needed quite a lucky Skriniar goal to usurp Atalanta of points last time out. Perhaps a Conte-less Inter and a more free flowing contest is just what the doctor ordered to get over the hump against the Lombardian rivals, and reenter the conversation as a dark horse shout for championship glory. As always, Forza Dea!!!
