Serie A Matchday 31 Review: Errors End Atalanta’s Already Slim Champion’s League Push

It was a lovely day here on the east coast of the United States. So much so that we pulled out the grill and barbequed. The steak was great, the chorizo was top notch, and even the zucchini was delectable for five to ten seconds. Then the bitterness set in…. Oddly enough my grilled zucchini was the perfect allegory for Atalanta’s display today – a good and satisfying start, followed up by a pungent aftertaste questioning if I really wanted more. In Atalanta’s case we always come back, through the good, bad, and the ugly. Today, sadly, was especially ugly.

A 3-1 score line in favor of the Partenopei is filled with equal parts of Napoli goodness and Atalanta sluggishness. Like my zucchini, everything looked great at the start. Atalanta was creating unforced errors and dominating the first twelve minutes of the match. But the inability to finish any of these great opportunities was depressing foreshadowing for how the rest of the match would ensue. Juan Musso’s second blunder of 2022 gifted Napoli its first goal, and then a set-piece alignment devoid of any alertness permitted Matteo Politano to sneak by a pre-occupied defensive line to double Napoli’s lead. By then it was pretty much all over. Marten de Roon and the offensive did their best to mount a comeback. But in typical Atalanta fashion, the club’s often preferred panic tactic of ‘throw bodies forward’ left La Dea exposed at the back for Eljif Elmas and Napoli to ice the match.

The performance embodies Atalanta’s season, and Gian Piero Gasperini and the boys can hardly use injuries as an excuse with only Duvan Zapata and Rafael Toloi absent. Yes Duvan Zapata is a mighty miss, but the boys far too often lack the final bit of crispness that has often defined teams in the Gasperini era. Sixteen shots in the box leading to three shots on target will rarely cut it, especially against the league’s best defense. It feels too late to go back to the drawing board, and now Atalanta will have to throw all its chips into the Europa League basket for any shot of making the Champion’s League next year. For now Atalanta just needs to focus on the task at hand against Leipzig, and hope Zapata injects energy back into the club; its just a shame that it came to everything hinging on one player’s health.

Atalanta Passione’s Match Ratings

Goalkeeper: 4.5 – His slow read on Dries Mertens charging into the box turned the tides of the match. And he probably could have done better with Insigne’s average placed penalty.

Defense: 6 – The back three wasn’t directly at fault for any of the goals, but the unit (especially Palomino) could have done better to ensure that the middle of the pitch was a bit more occupied on the counterattack. Giorgio Scalvini, on the other hand, improves every match.

Wingbacks: 6 – Davide Zappacosta’s effort was turned up to eleven, but his wing mate has to check if he has bricks in his shoes. Every ball that comes Hans Hateboer’s way just feels like an automatic offense killer.

Midfield: 6.5 – The ‘brightest spot’ of the evening. Freuler did well in the middle, and Marten de Roon redeemed himself with a goal after his poor marking that let Mertens enter the box for the penalty shout in the first half.

Attack: 5 – An empty calorie afternoon for the trio. This was by far Teun Koopmeiners’s worst match, as he added next to nothing besides kilometers to the distance covered metric.

Substitutes: 6.5 – Its tough to blame the substitutes for anything after having to come on without any sort of discernible tactic. Aleksei Miranchuk flashed by provided some of Atalanta’s best chances.

Atalanta Passione Man of the Match- Giorgio Scalvini

The teenager finally got a full ninety minutes and made of the most of his time deputizing for Rafael Toloi. Most importantly he didn’t make any errors, and he showed a good nose for the ball on corners. He knows how to attack a corner, now its time to work on the finishing.

Other Match Odds and Ends

FotMob’s xGoal- Atalanta: 1.74 – Napoli: 1.42 – Quantity doesn’t outweigh quality today. Even with Insigne’s penalty, Napoli only mustered two other quality chances, and of course both get converted.

Speaking of quality chances, Eljif Elmas’s goal was right down main street. With a 36% of the shot being converted, it’s easy to think that Juan Musso could have done more to save it. In fact, Musso probably did too much, as his sprawled out leg let Elmas’s relatively poor shot sneak through the five hole. Just one of those things…

Does Gasperini know how to use Jeremie Boga yet? I’m not convinced he does. No fault to Boga, but when he gets thrown all over the pitch, asked to play in attack and on both wings- it feels really difficult for him to establish any sort of rhythm. I was impressed by the elevation he gets aerially inside the box when he was moonlighting as a right wing back for a few minutes.

Atalanta may have taken nineteen shots, but Luis Muriel only contributed two of them. And both of them were from 25 yards out. How this happens, I do not know, but Luis Muriel has to help himself first if he wants to score his first league goal in nearly three months.

Fortunately for me I’ve got infinite more chances to perfect grilled zucchini. More salt, fresher selection, coat it with olive oil – I have tons of things I can try. Atalanta on the other hand, has eight more chances to right the wrongs of the the year. Sitting in seventh place, only one point clear of Fiorentina for the Conference League spot (provided Fiorentina don’t win the Coppa Italia), Atalanta has more problems on its hands besides missing the Champion’s League. European Football is still in question, and not a guarantee. Performances like this don’t help, but Napoli proved today why it is a Scudetto contender. There a strong team that pounces on poor chances. Atalanta may be able to get away with lukewarm football against Bologna, as happened two weeks ago, but stiffer competition only amplifies La Dea’s vulnerabilities. Now let’s hope those vulnerabilities forgot their passports and can’t make it on a flight to Germany midweek…. But still as always, Forza Dea!!!