After its victory against Liverpool in the quarter-final of the Europa League (3-1 on the return leg), Atalanta Bergamo will be the next team to stand on OM’s European path. This club, which really revealed itself to the continent in 2020 with a quarter-final of the Champions League, has changed a lot in four years.
After Benfica, it’s time for Atalanta. Qualified for the semi-final of the Europa League following its victory on penalties this Thursday against the Portuguese club (1-0, 4-2 tab), OM will challenge the Italian club Bergamo and it will be necessary to raise the level of play to compete against this team which claimed the scalp of Liverpool in the quarter-finals.
A name on the map of Europe since 2020
Oscillating between Serie A and Serie B (Italian 2nd division) in the early 2000s, Atalanta Bergamo has been in the Italian elite since the 2011-2012 season. Never in the first half of the ranking until 2016, the “Dea” experienced a revolution with the arrival of Italian technician Gian Piero Gasperini.
Fourth in Gasperini’s first season on the bench, the Bergamo team reached its high point during the 2019-2020 season, achieving a third place in Serie A and above all a quarter-final in the Champions League. After finishing second in group C, Atalanta took on the Spaniards Valencia in the round of 16, allowing it to secure a ticket for the “Final 8” (due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the quarter-finals were played over a single match and the matches were all scheduled in Lisbon).
Defeated 2-1 during their quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain, the Atalanta players were far from being ridiculous and their offensive play was talked about throughout the competition. If it has never done better than the 2019-2020 season, the Bergamo team has almost always remained in the top 5 of Serie A (except in 2021-2022 with an eighth place) therefore ensuring a ticket for the European Cup (Champions League or Europa League) every year.
The Gasperini method: a fine tactician with an explosive temperament
A midfielder who spent his career in Italy between 1975 and 1993, Gian Piero Gasperini mainly played for Palermo and Pescara. His playing career had barely ended, he embarked on a coaching career, becoming Juventus youth coach in 1994. Since then, and before arriving at Atalanta, the Italian technician had six experiences in four clubs different, always in Italy. After 30 years of coaching, one observation is simple: Gasperini is a man who works when he has time. On the side of Inter Milan and Palermo, results were immediately requested, they did not come and the adventure came to an end in both cases.
On the Genoa side, on the other hand, the current coach of Atalanta had time to implement his project. As a result, Gian Piero Gasperini completed two good and long mandates on the side of Genoa between 2006 and 2010 then 2013 and 2016. On the side of Bergamo, with his arrival almost seven years ago, the observation is similar since the technician has greatly makes his club progress.
On the tactical side, the Atalanta coach is a fan of 3-4-3, drawing inspiration from the great era of Ajax in the 90s, under Louis van Gaal. Gasperini firmly believes in this system and only uses it, his goal being to offer forward-looking football. Most of the time, his eleven is placed in 3-4-1-2, with a number 10 and two attackers, the full-backs being his only side players. The Italian coach is looking for these full-backs to eat up the lines as much as possible but he also wants relay midfielders present in all zones or even offensive players who switch. Gasperini also imposes high play even during defensive phases, in order to harass and put pressure on the opposing team.
A fine tactician, Gian Piero Gasperini, on the other hand, is not the most tender in human terms. With his strong character, the Italian experienced several player conflicts. The first, and certainly the best known at Atalanta, concerns Papu Gomez. The attacking midfielder had a big altercation with his coach at half-time of a Champions League match, against Midtjylland, in December 2020. Gomez’s failure to comply with the instructions was at the origin of the quarrels but the two men visibly came close to coming to blows at this time, each accusing the other of an attempted physical attack.
After the altercation with Papu Gomez, Gasperini was the subject of statements from Pierluigi Gollini and Thimothy Castagne, two of his former players, not fans of his method and who visibly left Atalanta for the same reason. Recently, it was Joakim Maehle, transferred to Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023, who spoke about the “Dea” technician, not pulling any punches. “Gasperini’s almost dictatorial approach? You said it. I didn’t want to say it before, because I was afraid that you (the media, editor’s note) would write one thing rather than another… It’s is how he decided everything. If, for example, we did a double training, we had to stay and sleep at the center for the night. Then we were not allowed to go home. A management style. on fear? Yes a little”, he explained to Goal Italia last September. A good atmosphere is obviously not Gasperini’s priority in his management.
What does Atalanta look like in 2024?
Toloi, Djimsiti, Hateboer, Palomino, De Roon and Pasalic: these six players are the “survivors” of the great 2019-2020 season. All of them (except José Luis Palomino) started against PSG in the Champions League quarter-final. Today, only Berat Djimsiti, Marten De Roon and Mario Pasalic have a regular place in Gasperini’s starting eleven.
Papu Gomez left in the winter of 2021, the Atalanta technician had to find a new playing master. His name is now Teun Koopmeiners, a 26-year-old Dutch midfielder who arrived from AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2021. Author of 11 league goals this season, Koopmeiners is the centerpiece of Gasperini and “La Dea” had an interest in taking advantage of it while he is still here, since he has expressed his desire to leave in the next transfer window.
Offensively, Atalanta does not deviate from the principles of Gian Piero Gasperini this season. With 57 goals scored in Serie A, the Bergamo club is currently sixth in Serie A. The Italians are not only relying on Teun Koopmeiners since Gianluca Scamacca (14 goals in all competitions, top scorer for the club), Charles de Ketelaere (10 goals tcc) and Ademola Lookman (9 goals tcc), who are the three attackers used in the two number nine system, do not lack efficiency in front of goal, despite their competition.
Defensively, on the other hand, with 36 goals conceded in 31 league matches, Atalanta is far from being a model, although logical however given the principles applied by Gasperini. By playing and pressing high, “La Dea” inevitably exposes itself when a team comes out of its pressing.
In the Europa League, the results are more than interesting for the Italian club. First in its group with a record of 4 wins and 2 draws (12 goals scored, 4 conceded), Atalanta found Sporting in the round of 16, whom it had already challenged in the group stage. With a draw in Portugal (1-1) and a victory at home (2-1), Gian Piero Gasperini’s men managed to get rid of the leader of the Portuguese championship.
Facing Liverpool in the quarter-finals, “La Dea” completely defied the predictions, winning 3-0 at Anfield and qualifying for the semi-finals after the narrow 1-0 defeat at home against the Reds.
For OM, the task will not be easy against a team whose tactics are well-established, with Gian Piero Gasperini at the helm. The Olympians will have to succeed in thwarting the Italians while getting out of their high pressure. It will also be necessary to contain the offensives which can come from all sides with Koopmeiners, Scamacca, De Keteleare or even Lookman.