It’s funny what one year can do. Last time around this year, Atalanta was on the losing side of a 4-0 thrashing in Zagreb; but how the tides have turned. In the torrential rain of the Jutland region in Denmark, Atalanta flipped the script and pounded in 4 goals to get an all important 3 points in a wide open Group D. In typical Atalanta fashion their relentless offensive attack proved too much for Midtjylland, allowing La Dea to dictate the flow of the game; even easing off in the 2nd half much to the appreciation of the wingers I imagine.
Overall there’s not too much to say about this game. The offense clicked, the Freuler/de Roon midfield combo controlled the tempo, and a back three with only one wildcard Argentine led La Dea to a rare Atalanta clean sheet. To me, three important takeaways came out of this game, and will prove useful going into the brutal stretch of games coming up.
First: Resiliency. After Napoli’s 4-1 thrashing of Atalanta on Saturday, they did not let a bad result dictate how they played on Wednesday. The Napoli match was quickly put in the rear-view mirror, and only the upcoming task at hand was relevant. Gasperini’s squad has become notorious for shaking off bad outings or bad halves, and the match against FCM was no different. Everyone played their part, and playing in a foreign land 1100 kilometers away surprisingly felt like a walk in the part. Bravo to the entire squad (and coaches) to ensure that the team stayed focused.
Second: Lineup Uncertainty is Becoming More Certain. Beyond the plethora of attacking options that Atalanta have at its disposal, I think we learned a little more today about Gasperini’s lineup preferences. Most importantly Romero and Palomino will probably not be paired together going forward, unless absolutely necessary. I’ve written multiple times about the wildcards both Argentinians are, and having Djimsiti to balance out their crazy runs and presses is a much safer defensive formula. Also, while Pessina didn’t get huge minutes, it looks like Gasperini will look to employ the Italian in the midfield to spell either Freuler or de Roon. It will be interesting to see how Pessina fairs in a double pivot after playing higher up last year in Hellas, but he can’t be more invisible than Pasalic tends to play in the middle. I’m still concerned about wingback depth, as I don’t really have confidence in Depaoli yet, but time will tell if he can adjust to the system; we’ll need him.
Finally: Miranchuk thrills in his debut. While Aleksey had very few touches in his Atalanta debut, he scored an absolute stunner with a beautiful left-footed curler. I’ve been anticipating his debut ever since his signing, and what an encouraging sign to see him score in his debut! Russians have picked up the stigma of not playing well outside of Russia, and Miranchuk is doing all he can to put that stigma and myth to rest. You can’t put too much stock into one half of football against an inferior club, but I can’t wait to keep riding the Miranchuk hype train.
Three points in the bag, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Liverpool took care of business (barely) against Ajax, so Tuesday’s match against the Dutch will be supremely important in dictating how group D will play out. If we play like today, we have little to worry about I presume, but as good as Gasperini and the boys are at shaking off losses, they need to be just as good at eliminating complacency and looking ahead to their next match. It’s a marathon, and as long as Atalanta takes one game at a time, I feel a lot more positive articles like this will be coming. Great win Atalantini, and as always Forza Atalanta!
