7M - Can the dark horses Atalanta retain their spot?

Posted Monday, January 23, 2017 by 7M Sport

Atalanta have been the surprise story of the first half of this Serie A season. Before the winter break, they sat on the 6th place, which means they are eligible to play next season's Europa League if their ranking stay the same.

Perhaps following the example set by US Sassuolo Calcio last season, more and more clubs are putting faith in local talents. Atalanta in particular are huge success in this regard. Promising players are coming through in many positions, from Mattia Caldara to Roberto Gagliardini, with the addition of international player Franck Kessie. We've seen Sassuolo's unfortunate demise this season, but the young and talented La Dea are writing another dark horses' chapter.

At the beginning of the season, Atalanta were mediocre like they used to be. But a 9-game unbeaten run propelled them to the upper half of the league. In that period from September to November, they shockingly beat Serie A powerhouses Napoli, Inter Milan and AS Roma who are all former Scudettos. With an average age of 25-years-old, the club is thriving under 59-years-old manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

But this is a young team after all. Their form was shaky before and after the winter break. Moreover, they got defeated by weaker sides like Sampdoria, Cagliari and Palermo.

After the aforementioned 9-game unbeaten run, they suffered a 3-game winless streak, where they lost to another weaker side Udinese with 1-3. And they lost back-to-back games in all competitions after the winter break. Therefore another Nerazzurri - Inter have taken the 6th spot from them.

Gasperini's squad may find it difficult to end their poor run. Even though they just barely saw off Sampdoria, their next two games are against Torino and Cagliari. These teams either beat them before, or have been improving this season as well.

What makes matter worse is that Roberto Gagliardini is going to Inter on loan and Franck Kessie is away with the Cote d'Ivoire at the African Cup of Nations. Midfield players were the crucial part for their previous glory, now Gasperini finds his center line is shattered. Besides, star defender Mattia Caldara has also agreed to join Juventus, but he will leave the La Dea until 2018. Although the club rejected Chelsea's 25 million euros offer for Franck Kessie, their promising youngsters already became targets for other big clubs in Europe.

It is obvious that Atalanta want to host Europa League games in Bergamo next season. But teams are not that easy to conquer at this stage compared to first half of the season. Not to mention that Atalanta's performance wasn't so convincing when they were up against weaker teams.

Atalanta will know how tough it is to reclaim and retain their Europa League spot. Nonetheless, this is a perfect opportunity for them to prove what they are made of.

(7M/Russell)