Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Serie A clash between Atalanta BC and Torino, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
After enjoying their finest hour in Europe, Atalanta BC will play the penultimate match of their league season on Sunday, when Turin visit Bergamo.
Crowned Europa League champions in midweek, La Dea can only finish fifth in Serie A and could still claim third place; Meanwhile, Toro must win to keep slim hopes of qualifying for the continental competition alive.
Match Preview
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Beating an “invincible” Bayer Leverkusen side in Dublin, Atalanta’s 61-year wait for a trophy finally came to an end on Wednesday evening, with a tactical masterclass from the veteran coach. Gian Piero Gasperini supported by the superb performance of its players.
The Bergamaschi pressed high and dominated in midfield, while Ademola Lookman scored a clinical hat-trick to win the Europa League final, just a week after succumbing to Juventus in a Coppa Italia decider for the second time in four years.
Their return to Bergamo was welcomed by thousands of people, but Atalanta still has two domestic matches to play, as after Sunday’s match they have to face Europa Conference League runners-up Fiorentina in a match postponed which proved particularly difficult to reschedule.
Winning both will put La Dea ahead of Bologna and Juventus to finish third behind the Milan clubs; This would also have consequences for sixth-placed Roma, which is counting on Atalanta to remain fifth, thus sending six Italian teams to the Champions League next season.
With such success this season, Gasperini’s next goal will be to challenge for the Scudetto, and as only runaway champions Inter have posted higher points and goal rates during the second half of 2023-24, there must be a tinge of regret about his team’s score. Relatively slow start.
Last weekend, the Nerazzurri won 2-0 at Lecce thanks to goals from in-form strikers Gianluca Scamacca And Charles De Ketelaere, recording a fifth championship victory on the spin; they can now play six in a row for the first time since 2021.
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While Torino clearly face an uphill task in their final match and have won just one of their last eight league meetings with Atalanta, the clubs’ last meeting surprisingly ended 3-0 against the Granata in early December.
Repeating this feat at the Gewiss Stadium would see them clinch ninth place – Napoli are just one point behind – and if Fiorentina then win the Conference League it would prove enough to secure a place in the competitions. UEFA.
Victorious in their last two league matches – against Hellas Verona and then against Milan, whom they impressively beat 3-1 in Turin – Toro are now striving to string together three successive Serie A victories for the first times since 2019.
Well organized by the head coach Ivan Juricthey can also tie a long-standing club record by somehow eliminating La Dea’s powerful attack on Sunday night – with as many as 18 already, they are currently one clean sheet away from matching the total established by the class of 1976-77.
In a week when Alessandro Buongiorno, Samuele Ricci And Raoul Bellanova have all been named in Italy’s provisional squad for Euro 2024, so morale should be high.
However, all is not well in the camp, as Juric prepares to meet his friend and mentor Gasperini after hinting he will leave at the end of the season, following a series of terse exchanges with the top brass in Turin.
Atalanta BC Serie A form:
Atalanta BC form (all competitions):
Turin Serie A form:
Team News
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It remains to be seen whether Gian Piero Gasperini will make many changes to the team that began his career-defining success on Wednesday in Ireland, but some fringe players could feature this weekend.
Emile Holm is back in contention after a long absence, but Sead Kolasinac aggravated an injury in the Europa League final, Ederson has a bruised knee and Marten De Roon is still sidelined due to thigh strain; furthermore, Hans Hateboer must serve a suspension.
I just named Luciano SpallettiIn the Italy squad, Gianluca Scamacca has been directly involved in 17 league goals this season, and alongside midweek hat-trick hero Ademola Lookman, he is one of Gasperini’s formidable attacking options.
Since the beginning of February, only Victor Osimhen scored more in Serie A than La Dea duo Charles De Ketelaere and Teun Koopmeiners; Meanwhile, the former Torino Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata also scored seven goals during this period.
The Colombian has already scored seven times in 10 matches against his former club – for whom he is still the all-time top scorer in Serie A, with Cristiano Doni – and either Antonio Sanabria Or Pietro Pellegri should involve it from the start.
Ivan Juric stated that Ricardo Rodriguez won’t be fit enough to start, while Nikola Vlašić (thigh), Gvidas Ginéite (knee) and Perr Schuurs (ACL) are all unavailable for Toro’s season finale.
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Carnesecchi; Toloi, Djimsiti, Scalvini; Zappacosta, Koopmeiners, Pasalic, Ruggeri; Miranchuk, Lookman; Scamacca
Possible starting lineup in Turin:
Milinkovic-Savic; Tameze, Buongiorno, Masina; Bellanova, Ilic, Linetty, Lazaro; Ricci; Pellegri, Zapata
We say: Atalanta BC 1-0 Turin
Torino may be tough to beat, but they are much less effective on the road; As the away team will most likely be deep, Atalanta can force their way into the match after a few days of celebration, before scoring once to claim a sixth consecutive Serie A victory.
For data analysis of most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match, please click here.
