Matchday in focus: Atalanta | OneFootball

Europa League winners in 2024, Atalanta have been solid in the Champions League but patchy overall this season – leading to a recent change of head coach.

The opposition

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, known as Atalanta BC for short, have been a permanent fixture in Lombardy’s football scene since 1907. A down-to-earth club shaped by local identity, they have a clear focus on youth development.

They have made plenty of headlines on the European stage in recent years. Under long-time coach Gian Piero Gasperini, Atalanta started consistently rising up the continental rankings from 2016 onwards, regularly qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and even reaching the quarter-finals in 2019/20.

History was made in 2024 when they beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League final. It was the club’s first European title, achieved by defeating a team that had previously gone unbeaten in 51 consecutive competitive outings.

Atalanta rely heavily on their youth academy, and won 17 domestic youth titles between 1991 and 2014. It is a system that continues to produce players for the first team and generate impressive transfer revenues.

The coach

Ivan Juric took over from Gasperini in summer 2025 but was dismissed following a 3-0 home defeat by Sassuolo at the start of November, leading the club to appoint Raffaele Palladino as his replacement. “They’re a group with strong values and I was impressed by their commitment,” said the 41-year-old ahead of his first game in charge at the weekend, a Serie A fixture against SSC Napoli.

Palladino stuck to Gasperini’s successful model on his debut by beginning with a 3-4-1-2 formation, focusing on dynamic wing play and a compact centre. It didn’t all go to plan, however, as they lost 3-1 in Naples. “A good second half isn’t enough,” he said afterwards. “We didn’t have much time but now we have to go again and produce the same courage and performance as we did in the second half.”

Form

Atalanta have held their own in the Champions League so far this season but have struggled domestically. The loss against Napoli extended their winless run to eight consecutive games in Serie A, a sequence that has seen them plummet from fifth to 13th in the standings.

The Black and Blues have looked more solid defensively in the Champions League, recording two victories, a draw and one defeat to sit 16th in the table. A 1-0 away win at Olympique de Marseille last time out took them onto seven points, albeit with a goal difference of minus two (three scored, five conceded).

Tactics

The switch from Juric to Palladino on the touchline did not bring about wholesale changes, but rather a fine-tuning of the three-man backline anchored in the club’s history. Palladino tends to set his teams up in either a 3-4-2-1 or a 3-4-1-2 formation.