If there was anything that future opposition must be aware of from Atalanta’s Europa League qualification campaign, it would have to be to dismiss Gian Piero Gasperini’s side at your peril. Borussia Dortmund boss Peter Stöger must take heed of this message in order to advance in the competition, ensuring that his side never take their status as favourites for granted.
As Everton and Olympique Lyonnais found out in the group stages, this young Italian side use the strength of the collective as their main weapon against their opponent, playing without fear no matter who they face. That they topped a group they weren’t even expected to qualify from shows the resilience of this young side, a team that continued regardless even when some of their best assets in Franck Kessie and Andrea Conti were sold last summer.
Yet they are present in three competitions this term, Gasperini having deployed a clever rotation system as Atalanta soon face a Coppa Italia semi-final second leg tie with Juventus, and are maintaining a credible eighth position in the league in addition to their unexpected Europa League progress. His side play with an ethos of hard work and tenacity, second only to Crotone (459) in the total number of tackles made in Serie A this term with 451.
Such has been the success of the veteran coach with La Dea over the last couple of seasons, he has even been mentioned as a candidate to take on the vacant Italy post, but for now his sole focus is on continuing the project he has worked so hard on over the past season and a half. His reputation for improving young players stretches back way further than just his time with Atalanta, as Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who worked with the current Atalanta boss between 2008 and 2010 recently revealed.
“I've been here in Germany for seven years,” Sokratis told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “But I have not forgotten what I learned in Serie A, especially at Genoa with Gasperini when I was 20. I follow Serie A on TV and Atalanta are what's good in that league, they are compact, strong and dangerous on the wings and from set pieces.Everybody thinks that we are the favourites for the match, but I think that it will be a close game, with equal chances for both sides.”
Gasperini always works with three at the back, expecting his packed midfield to always work hard to recover the ball and deliver it to the forward players. The talented Bryan Cristante – who has expressed his desire to one day play in the Premier League – has fired in 10 goals in all competitions this term while still putting in a defensive shift with an average of two tackles per game.
Similarly, his more defensive-minded midfield partner Remo Freuler has weighed in with the joint eighth highest number of tackles (4.3 per match) in the Europa League group stages while still contributing three goals and four assists in all competitions. Everton found out what a danger forward man Alejandro “Papu” Gomez can be when the midfielders can pick him out or win a set piece in a dangerous area, the 29-year-old having scored and provided two assists across their two fixtures with La Dea.
“You set objectives at the start of the season, but then you build on them during the year. We’re not favourites against Borussia, but we’ll try to cause them problems,” revealed Gasperini in an interview with Tuttosport ahead of the tie.“We want to raise the bar, we won’t renounce anything. The Europa League has given us self-confidence and enriched us. Right now we don’t feel tired.”
Gasperini’s words reveal exactly why Dortmund should be wary of Atalanta. This side really don’t care if there is a gulf in quality, the band of youngsters fighting for every ball regardless. His smart rotation system has negated what has proven to be a problem for smaller sides present in this competition, their league position yet to be affected by the often gruelling schedule.
Perhaps this next stage of the competition will turn out to be a bridge too far for Atalanta, but this writer for one is not about to write them off anytime soon.
