Atalanta can feel quite rightly aggrieved that they were messed about by the dealings of neighbours AC Milan this summer. Having finished in 7th place last season, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men would qualify for the Europa League for the second campaign in a row, an incredible achievement having done so for the first time ever in 2016/17.
This time around they would be preparing to enter at the preliminary stages, the team fully aware that this meant their season would commence as early as July. Yet UEFA’s ruling on Milan’s FFP status on June 27th expelled the Rossoneri from the competition, meaning La Dea would take their place and enter at the group stage and 8th placed Fiorentina would likely move up to join the Europa League in the playoff rounds.
However, as hedge fund Elliott Management ousted dubious owner Yonghong Li from his position, Milan’s ban was overturned on appeal by July 20, giving Atalanta just six days to prepare for an opening match with FK Sarajevo.
“We were preparing to play in the preliminary rounds, but the timing was wrong,” Atalanta boss Gasperini told Sky Italia. “Above all this has penalised the fans: ours, Milan’s and Fiorentina’s. Sarajevo? They run a lot, and the World Cup proved there are no easy games.”
Sure enough, his side struggled in their home tie with the Bosnian outfit, the match finishing 2-2 after Atalanta bossed the match and let a two-goal lead slip. Now the side who beat Everton and Lyon to top spot in the group last term will travel to Sarajevo knowing they need to score to stand any chance of staying in the competition thanks to two away goals conceded in the first leg.
In all honesty, it would be a shame for this club to exit the competition before it had really even begun and before they have chance to try out their giant-killing skills once again. The Bergamo-outfit is one that has produced a myriad of talent, and have been able to overcome the player sales by a constant production line of talent in recent years.
€145 million has been raised through sales of Bryan Cristante, Roberto Gagliardini, Franck Kessie, Mattia Caldara, Andrea Conti and Alessandro Bastoni in the last two years, allowing the club to vastly increase its capacity to generate income through the purchase of their stadium from the city council. That was €10 million well spent, and the club have promised further investment in work that should be ready by the end of the forthcoming campaign.
In their sensible approach, Atalanta remain more similar to Serie A giants Juventus than their neighbours Milan, the latter having adopted an unstable “boom and bust” approach since the departure of Silvio Berlusconi in April 2017.
“The primary objective remains Serie A safety and the second is to keep the books balanced,” Atalanta president Antonio Percassi told Bergamo TV at the end of last season. “Having said that, we aim and believe that we can build an Atalanta side that is stronger and more competitive.”
It seems like, therefore, any exploits in Europe will be a bonus for this team, however it will remain a disappointment if such a sensibly run club fail to show their excellent progress overall should they fail to compete in the Europa League group stages this term.
