Football Season Guide

The past season will be remembered by Atalanta and their supporters as the most impressive of their whole history. In fact, they managed to reach 4th in the Serie A table, their best result ever in the Italian top flight. Therefore, they are returning to the European competition after 26 years despite a far from promising beginning of the campaign. Just a few weeks from the start of the season, coach Gian Piero Gasperini was about to be sacked and Atalanta found themselves in the middle of the relegation zone but they eventually proved capable of a real miracle. With Gasperini confirmed at the helm of the team, Atalanta will now aim at repeating the wonders displayed in the past campaign while leaving a mark in the Europa League also. Of course, it will be far from easy. First of all, there will be a bigger competition for the European spots since teams like Inter and Milan have seriously strengthened themselves. Moreover, Atalanta lost two of their main players. Both Andrea Conti, who had actually scored 8 goals despite being a defender, and Franck Kessie were attracted by Milan's money and left, thus leaving big holes on the right flank of the midfield and in the middle of the park respectively. More players also left during the summer but, among them, just Ervin Zukanovic and Alberto Grassi had really had some decent playing time last season. However, they did manage to avoid the departures of key stars like "El Papu" Gomez, who had plenty of options, Mattia Caldara and Leonardo Spinazzola, who were also required by their parent club, Juventus. In order to fill those holes left by Conti and Kessié, Atalanta spent big money. In fact, Marten De Roon made his way back from Middlesbrough after just one season spent in England and he is going to become the anchor in the middle of the park alongside Remo Freuler. Timothy Castagne arrived from Racing Genk and Hans Hateboer, who showed some glimpses of quality back in the spring, will be competing for a place on the right flank of the midfield. Riccardo Orsolini and Josip Ilicic are expected to become protagonists in the forward three while José Luis Palomino should represent a valid alternative for the defence.