Date: October 27, 2020
Time: 16:00 EST
We’re back already, with one of the biggest games of the year already in our sight! With 3 points already picked up in the first round of the Champion’s League, Atalanta have a huge opportunity to put a 6 point gap between themselves and the Dutch champs who pose the biggest threat to preventing Atalanta from reaching the Round of 16. Both teams are entering the game in polar opposites form. Atalanta obviously losing over the weekend, will have to hope Ajax got all their goals out of them after historically thrashing VVV-Venlo 13-0 on Saturday. It’s a scary thought to be next in line against a club that just demonstrated such offensive potency. But the Champion’s League is a different beast, form can change on a dime, and it was pretty evident that Gasperini’s Sampdoria lineup had this game in mind, and Atalanta are looking to go for broke in the group stages.
While losing to Sampdoria sucked, Atalanta look to be throwing all of their chips into getting out of group in the top-2. None of Romero, Toloi, Freuler, Gosens, Hateboer, Zapata, nor Muriel featured in the weekend fixture (while the wingbacks and Zapata came in to try and salvage the game) and should hopefully be quite fresh against Ajax. Having a rested defense will be the key to slowing down a frantic Ajax attack that saw 7 players score on Saturday (including 5 from Lassina Traore). With attacks and counters capable of coming from any direction, Atalanta will have to really be prepared for the counter (their downfall against Samp), especially Gosens and Hateboer to cover the lead legs of Toloi and Djimsiti. For additional defensive cover, missing out on de Roon will really hurt too. Freuler can capably handle de Roon’s more defensive oriented role, but then who fills in for Remo? Pasalic was decent this weekend, but is still prone to go missing in the midfield at time, and Pessina definitely doesn’t have the minutes to prominently feature (or perhaps even the traits in the double pivot, the jury’s still out). If he starts, Mario will be key to be a box-to-box boss and making his sneaky runs into the 18-yard box.
With all the defensive question marks that have been exploited recently, and Ajax will also look to exploit, it’ll most definitely come down to the offense to outpace the Ajax attack. We all know that Atalanta is capable of winning a shoot-out against pretty much any opponent, we just might have to put it all on the line on Tuesday. Ilicic is probably not going to start as he gets back to full gear, and considering the success of the Colombian striker combo so far when playing together, I wouldn’t doubt a Zapata/Muriel pairing again. The opportunities should be there for the taking; Ajax will not play nearly as defensive as Sampdoria over the weekend. So it comes down to capitalizing on chances. The club has truly been clinical in front of goal so far, putting 9 goals against two of Serie A’s best keepers in Sirigu and Cragno, and need to bring that finishing product against one of the Europe’s best young goalkeepers in Onana. Zapata scoring in back two back games (albeit one was a penalty) should be huge for his confidence, and hopefully be the boost he needs to continue leading the line and taking Daley Blind and company to school.
In Champion’s League every chance to earn three points has to be taken seriously, but there is a certain aura about this game that just makes it feel more important. A victory, and Atalanta is already 6 points clear of the Dutch, and puts all the pressure on their shoulders to play flawless for the rest of the group stages. A loss, and Atalanta will be thrust out of the driver’s seat and forced to win on the road in Amsterdam to keep their hopes alive. As Atalanta showed last year, being dead in the water will not force them to give up, but just increase the blood pressure of their fan base. So for Bergamo and all of the Atalantini all over the world, let’s just do the job, get the W, and make the brutal autumn fixture schedule a little bit easier to handle. As always, Forza La Dea!
