Welcome to the Gian Piero Gasperini School of Defending, specializing in flustering and annoying opponents. In fact, its the antithesis of a Driver’s Ed course, if you can park a bus, you pass the class! Yes you’re reading all of that right, Atalanta has put in its second straight stellar defensive effort against a Top 3 Italian offense. Holding Lazio scoreless in Rome is quite the accomplishment, especially with the hurdles Atalanta had to overcome to even get down to Rome.
Atalanta was already missing three players to injury, and had another six players out with expected positive COVID tests. The result was an Atalanta side that had ten healthy outfield players (not still eligible for the Primavera), and three healthy keepers. The roster was as thin as they come, requiring Gasperini to bring in Tommaso de Nipoti and Alassane Sidibe for their senior debuts.
Maurizio Sarri; had the audacity to complain about his much more forgiving absences, oppositely Atalanta went out and did its business.
No complaints, just adrenaline laden effort that saw Atalanta through to an extremely important point. At no time was the passage of play pretty, but of course that was exactly what Gasperini and company wanted; make Lazio’s job as difficult as possible.
And was it ever. The back three was supremely confident and composed in its task all match. Giorgio Scalvini was used as a defensive midfielder. Giuseppe Pezzella played wingback, left winger, and right winger. And Rafael Toloi played as a holding midfielder. The improvisation was remarkable and proved the guys sweat for the shirt. More so, improv hour at the Olimpico caused confusion for a tepid Lazio side that could never get going all match. Lazio had one real chance (a freak missed clearance that Zaccagni clanked off the post), and there were so few Lazio touches inside Atalanta’s eighteen, Juan Musso had little to do all match.
Timing could not have been worse for Atalanta to start its difficult stretch run against Inter and Lazio. One point would have felt acceptable throughout all the carnage. The fact that La Dea willed itself to two draws, and even more importantly prevented its rivals from earning more points, is worth the praise. Regardless of how the season unfolds, hats must go off to the boys for weathering this storm – and here’s to hoping everyone comes back a bit healthier and rested after the international break.
Recapping Three Minor Keys to Three Big Points
Let Luis Muriel Cook Against Luiz Felipe- No grade, as Lucho did not see the field due to his COVID absence. We’ll assume he would have made good on this!
Immediatley Seek Out Ciro Immobile After a Turnover- Again, tough to grade given the defensive setup was so conservative. Nonetheless, Ciro Immobile was very quiet all match – and the whole backline was very effective giving the league’s top scorer no room to move around.
Frustrate Sergej Milinkovic-Savic- SMS’s own team may have frustrated him more than anyone, but the Serbian was still effective – often the only offensive outlet for Lazio. Atalanta did throw interesting looks at him, including having Giorgio Scalvini spy him for long spells of time. Ultimately, Atalanta played a bend don’t break defense against Milinkovic-Savic – who was not able to unleash any deadly long shots nor get in the box to head home a cross or free kick.
Atalanta Passione’s Match Ratings
Goalkeeper: 7 – Juan Musso only had to make one save all match, but his work with the ball around the box was still instrumental in killing off the match. Atalanta used Musso much more frequently than usual to move the ball around the defense, and he didn’t misplace one pass (short or long) all match.
Centerbacks: 7.5 – An exceptional performance for a unit that kept Lazio at bay all match. Merih Demiral seems to elevate his play every game, and its still baffling how Jose Palomino has aged like a fine wine this year. The match should erase the incorrect opinion that Atalanta’s defenders cannot defend, and its purely a do or die system that is unforgiving to mistakes. All three defenders looked like prime catenaccio disciples against Lazio.
Wingbacks: 7 – Davide Zappacosta had some clever runs to get the ball out of Atalanta’s own half, and did well enough to slow down a lively Mattia Zaccagni. Giuseppe Pezzella was everywhere all match – an all out effort – and Maehle was a nice shot in the leg offensively to keep Lazio on its toes.
Midfield: 7 – Remo Freuler had an unforgivable task of covering most of the midfield and aiding out of position Giorgio Scalvini. Matteo Pessina floated back to assist the Swiss and was effective in helping to ease pressure off turnovers. Overall the unit did what it had to, wrangling in SMS just enough and silencing Luis Alberto.
Attack: 6.5 – Aleksei Miranchuk and Roberto Piccoli had the daunting duty of trying to make something out of long ball after long ball. Miranchuk started to heat up before his hamstring injury in the second half, and created some nice half chances that may have snuck past Thomas Strakoshka on a different day.
Atalanta Passione’s Man of the Match – Merih Demiral
This award should honestly go to the entire defense, but the Turk put in an elite performance, filled with deft one and one play as well as aggressive man tackles that had him sacrificing his body for the cause. His and the rest of the backline’s positioning was so good, there were very few instances that required him (or anyone else) to make a match saving play. How can you not love a player that celebrates tackles like he has scored a game winning goal? If Demiral wasn’t already a cult hero in Bergamo, his performance against Lazio may catapult him to that level.
I Laziali booed its team off the pitch after the match. While that is a bit boorish you can understand where the sentiment and frustration comes from. Atalanta had little business holding Lazio to a cleansheet, especially with how good Sarri’s outfit can be. Nonetheless the stars line up sometimes and reward brave performances. It feels weird celebrating a draw so passionately, but you can’t do anything but appreciate the effort put down on the pitch. Let’s get a much deserved rest, and get back and it at in February! As always, Forza Dea!!!
