So close. That nearly sums it up for Atalanta’s trip to Old Trafford to square off against Manchester United. With five injured starters, and a sixth carted off at half-time, Atalanta nearly pulled off the improbable – beating the Red Devils in their own home. But it just wasn’t meant to be. A two goal cushion looked, and ultimately was, an unstable foundation for La Dea to see out a second half that was an all out onslaught from Manchester United.
In the end Atalanta couldn’t keep it up for ninety minutes, and are now stuck on four points in the group alongside Villarreal. The result aside, La Dea had its moments and demonstrated that it has the talent, wherewithal, and industry to duke it out with the most valuable teams in Europe. A neat finish from Mario Pasalic demonstrated to perfection how Atalanta’s offense works when the team is sizzling, but unfortunately after Merih Demiral’s goal off a corner kick, it was nearly impossible to replicate that same offensive mojo.
Demiral’s goal ushered in a new flow to the match that saw Manchester United overrun Atalanta in the middle of the pitch. Large gaps of space were left unoccupied, giving Bruno Fernandes far too much real estate to dictate tempo. Having de Roon play in the back three was unfortunate, as he would have been dueling in those unoccupied spots. Instead Teun Koopmeiners and Remo Freuler lost the midfield match to an opposition of Scott McTominay and Fred that they could have handled on a different. Still Atalanta can hold its head high. The boys demonstrated they continually belong alongside the top sides in Europe, and the return leg is still very much a toss up for either team to take points.
Atalanta Player Ratings
Juan Musso – 7: Even though Musso let in three goals, he still made a number of key stops that prevented the match from getting out of hand
Marten de Roon – 6: Starting out of position was not his fault, but he was not able to be his usual impact self as a center half
Merih Demiral – 7.5: Defensive error aside, his brilliant last man tackle and goal help to offset the sting of him leaving with a hamstring injury
Jose Luis Palomino – 6.5: He kept Mason Greenwood in check, but it would’ve been nice to see him win the final header against Ronaldo
Davide Zappacosta – 7: Zappa finally connected on an assist, and was again dangerous moving forward
Joakim Maehle – 6.5: A steady performance, as the recipe looks to be Zappa on the right and Joakim on the left
Remo Freuler – 6: The captain struggled to gain hold in the midfield, making for an agonizingly long 2nd half
Teun Koopmeiners – 6.5: Brilliant corner to assist on the goal, but his defensive output did not match his offensive contribution
Josip Ilicic – 6: Average match from the Slovenian, but a poorly placed pass set up Manchester United’s first goal
Mario Pasalic – 7: Continues to thrive playing further up, and was rewarded with a goal for moving into unoccupied space
Luis Muriel – 6: He failed to make an offensive impact, and his only shot on target was a weak twenty yarder right at De Gea
Matteo Lovato – 5.5: He was thrown into a ruthless scenario, and the stage proved to still be too big for him
Duvan Zapata – 6.5: Would’ve liked to see him start, as he got the better part of Lindelof multiple times
Aleksey Miranchuk – 5.5: He couldn’t shake off the rust that comes without playing for a month, indecision and heavy touches were aplenty
Ruslan Malinovskyi – 6: He entered the match with little opportunity to dictate flow, as he was stuck playing defense
Guiseppe Pezzella – s/v: Hardly any time to contribute to the match
Atalanta Man of the Match: Merih Demiral
Brain fart aside that led to a Marcus Rashford shot that hit the crossbar, Demiral was everywhere on the pitch – while nursing a hamstring injury that eventually proved to be too much for him to play 90 minutes. Beyond scoring his first goal with Atalanta, his deputizing at the back stifled plenty of United’s attacks. Manchester United got into good positions in the first half, but it’s attacks fizzled out upon reaching the penalty area – ultimately due to Demiral’s stellar play. Demiral lost none of his ground and aerial duels, and his last ditch effort to dispossess Rashford would make Cristian Romero blush. Its a shame that Demiral may miss match time – as he was finding some legitimate form – so let’s hold our breath that his injury isn’t too serious. Losing Rafael Toloi, Berat Djimsiti, and Demiral would almost be too much to overcome with all the fixture congestion.
Losing in the fashion that transpired on Wednesday night is never easy. A seemingly convincing first half buffer was not able to overcome the cocktail of Manchester United quality and Atalanta injuries. Injuries should never be an excuse to explain a loss, and Atalanta’s demise came from its inability to see the match out. When Manchester United upped the tempo, Atalanta was not prepared to play at the same pace – and it was the team’s demise. A different mentality and maybe some better individual performances in the second half could’ve led to a more favorable result – but hindsight is 20/20.
Rather its more fruitful to look at the positives, and look where to improve. Most obvious is the abandonment of the game plan after the second goal. Even if Manchester United became more threatening on offense – it simultaneously means there should be gaps somewhere to blitz on the counter. Atalanta missed an outlet to set up legitimate counter attacks. Teun Koopmeiners should have been the most likely candidate to usher the attacks – it just never materialized. Perhaps that is Atalanta’s next progression. It at least gives superior opposition something to worry about, but Manchester United had free reign to push the entire outfield forward due to the lack of threat from the counter.
Live and learn. You still have to be proud of the immense display the boys from Bergamo put on, and they should still have all the confidence in the world going into the return fixture. Head’s high, and let’s get United when they come to Italy in two weeks! As always, Forza Dea!!!
