Football, and especially calcio, is a what have you done for me lately sport. Extreme highs and cavernous lows dictate the current mentality of the fandom and the press – sometimes making it difficult to remember that oftentimes everything levels out to the true talent of the team at the end of the season.
But for a moment let’s throw all of that reflection out in the trash this weekend! Saturday night in Rome felt like a watershed moment for the club; a night that demonstrated all the hard work that went in during the season so far (and practice too I imagine) to lead to a newfound Dea machine. A 2-0 victory over Champion’s League rival Lazio was defined by a thorough team performance that controlled the pitch from defense through to the attack.
Lazio had its fleeting chances, but it was nothing like the offensive barrage that Atalanta displayed. After succumbing to two consecutive clean sheets, 23 shots, 10 shots on target, 2.85 expected goals, and a candidate for the highest expected goal of the year (Hojlund’s tap in at 0.95 xG) was the offensive continuation Atalantini needed. Perhaps more notably, Atalanta was still able to put up such offensive quality without the newest trident that dominated January. Jeremie Boga still has his valuable place in the squad, but if Ederson can continue to be the box to box channel that provides safe offensive throughput with strong defensive positioning – it makes it far easier for Atalanta to tweak its approach based on the opponent.
Its to be determined if Atalanta can come out with the energy it did week in and week out. But with only one competition to focus, maybe if Atalanta keeps seeing red (or on Saturday – celeste) it can keep up with its usually dominant 2nd half of the season performances. This was as great a springboard as any match – and the perfect blueprint to keep in the back of the mind for future matches!
Three Match Takeaways
One– Atalanta’s Achilles heel the last few matches was its inability to effectively string passes together to beat opposition press. Both Inter and Sassuolo did a good job in limiting the attack in this manner. Lazio again tried to pin Atalanta deep in its own area, but the results were much more positive for Atalanta. The insertion of Davide Zappacosta back into the lineup certainly helped. The Italian barely placed a foot wrong, and had a great partnership working with Teun Koopmeiners who rarely misplaces a short pass. Atalanta’s ability to work out of pressure will be interesting to monitor in upcoming games – and a lot of Atalanta’s success will likely come down to how Zappacosta and Joakim Maehle can steady the ball when being cornered in opposition’s press.
Two- Lazio significantly out-possessed Atalanta to the tune of 59%-41% possession; although it hardly felt like it. Plaudits have to go out to Gian PIero Gasperini and his excellent game plan that clamped down once Lazio got near Atalanta box. A Lazio player touched the ball on 809 occasions on Saturday. Only 12 of those came inside Atalanta’s box – good for a 1.5% touch rate inside the box. Compare that to Atalanta’s 4% touch rate, and its not difficult to see how the sturdy defense led to good offense. Additionally Atalanta was able to spread the wealth with danger inside the box. Ciro Immobile was the only Lazio player to complete more than one touch inside the box; whereas, Atalanta Ademola Lookman (5), Zappacosta (5), Hans Hateboer (5), Rasmus Hojlund (4), and Teun Koopmeiners (2) all getting into the penalty box action. Atalanta’s offense always becomes more fun and dangerous when defenses do not know who is going to be passing and shooting on net. Saturday, the left, right, and center of the attack were all EOCs (equal opportunity contributors) – and let’s hope it stays that way.
Three- All season Lazio has been the club that runs and forces their opponents to match them. No club averages more distance covered per match than Lazio (115.8 km/match with Monza in second at 112.3 km/match, Atalanta is essentially tied for third), a big ask for a Lazio club that is already quite thin. Distance covered is a statistic that has a lot of nuance and always needs to be taken in context, but when Lazio covers 119 kilometers you take notice. Except when Atalanta covers 120.5 kilometers! All three of Atalanta’s midfielders covered at least 12.4 kilometers (Koopmeiners with an astounding 13.4!), and the kilometers weren’t just empty. Atalanta’s press was on point and both Ederson and Marten de Roon didn’t let their respective marking opponents (Luis Alberto for Ederson, Sergej Milinkovic Savic for de Roon) out of their sight. Back to the second point, Atalanta wanted to guarantee that the playmakers couldn’t dictate offense in Atalanta’s defensive third – and the midfield put forth in that regard was decisive.
Nick’s Match Ratings
Juan Musso: 7.5 – The Argentinian came up with two key saves that unfortunately will never show up in the advanced metrics. I challenge anyone to re-watch Mattia Zaccagni’s shot and tell me that Musso had a 97% chance of saving it.
Rafael Toloi: 7
Berat Djimsiti: 7 – He almost foiled Atalanta’s perfect match with a flubbed cross field pass, but fortunately Musso was there to erase the threat.
Giorgio Scalvini: 7
Hans Hateboer: 7 – The Dutchman’s good match will sadly be clouded by what now looked to be a torn ACL suffered in the match. Just when he was looking to rediscover a bit of his offensive flair, this happens. All the best to Hans, and let’s hope his injury is less serious and he has a speedy and healthy recovery.
Davide Zappacosta: 8 – Asides from his world class strike to give Atalanta an early lead, his energy, work in possession, and defensive chops led to a well-rounded performance. He also put in a full 90 minutes after not having played in a month, its great having Zappa back in the fold.
Marten de Roon: 7.5
Teun Koopmeiners: 7.5 – HIs technique is fantastic, but I don’t think he had every put on a better display in ball retention than against Lazio. Defenses had no answers to get him off the ball; wand of a left foot!
Ederson: 7.5 – His awareness was much more in-tune this match, and he looked much more grounded than in matches past. Perhaps he benefits from being one of the members of a midfield trio more so than in a double pivot. Whatever it is, we need to keep seeing this version of Ederson – especially next week with Marten de Roon absent through yellow-card suspension.
Ademola Lookman: 7.5 – His finishing is sometimes only outdone by his pinpoint weak footed passing. A much better game for him leading the attack off the left wing.
Rasmus Hojlund: 8 – He’s just about everything one wants in a striker. He got his deserved goal, plus his highlight reel for the ages burning past Lazio’s entire statuesque defense.
Merih Demiral: 7
Jose Luis Palomino: 7 – Things got dicey when Palomino had to come on and fill in at left wing back. Still even playing out of position, it was business as usual for Seis.
Duvan Zapata: n/a
Jeremie Boga: n/a – While he barely played, he still had a highlight reel 6 minutes, putting on his best version of FIFA Street.
Nick’s Man of the Match – Davide Zappacosta
This was the toughest MOTM to give out this season, but Zappacosta gets the accolades thanks to his precision finish. Additionally, he became Atalanta’s most flexible player, moving over to the right side of the pitch after Hateboer’s injury. A team player through and through that has a penchant for the flair every now and then. We gotta be thrilled to have him back!
Sitting tie for third is a nice place to be with 16 matches left on the calendar. But what may separate Atalanta is its momentum. I think its fair to say that La Dea should have an up arrow next to its name in the placings; while looking at rivals you cannot easily say the same about Lazio and Milan (Roma – I guess is holding steady).
But the warning at the beginning of the article comes back as a cautionary reminder. Teams are sometimes only as good as their last match, and everything can change in a flash. Milan looms large on the calendar in two weeks. Both Atalanta and Milan’s respective form could look far different in a fortnight’s time; so no resting on our laurels after this decisive victory. We still have work to get done! As always, Forza Dea!
