Pep Guardiola once said that facing Atalanta was “like going to the dentist, you always feel a little fear and pain.”
Only six Italian teams in history have won at Anfield: Genoa, Roma, Fiorentina, Udinese, Atalanta and Inter Milan. On Thursday night, Atalanta will try to repeat history and overcome another obstacle towards the Europa League final.
Today, the team led by Gian Piero Gasperini is very different from the one that was once defined as the ‘Cinderella’ of the Champions League, attacking and scaring all the big clubs.
That attack formed by Duván Zapata, Joseph Ilicic and ‘Papu’ Gómez was stellar and harmonious while today the team has changed its way of playing and has radically modified its DNA.
They play with a 3-4-2-1 system and Gianluca Scamacca is the spearhead of a team that plays aggressively but has lost the imagination and verve that had characterized those happy European experiences.
Atalanta stands between Liverpool and a place in the Europa League semi-finals
Liverpool hope to bounce back after drawing with Manchester United.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta is a decent team, but not as strong as a few years ago.
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Liverpool will find themselves with a very well organized team but with their batteries exhausted after an exceptional first part of the season.
Atalanta is going through a moment of slight decline after defeats against Cagliari in the League and Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia. So it could be a good time to face them against Liverpool.
The three-man defense becomes five when the opposing attack and this particular tactical structure could pose a problem for Liverpool.
Nowadays, Atalanta plays less “European” and more “Italian” football. They have learned to defend better and take fewer risks, so they could well thwart Liverpool’s plans.
KOOPMEINERS IS LIKE ROBOCOP
Teun Koopmeiners is the man who scares Jurgen Klopp the most and who requires the most attention.
He is a midfielder that Gasperini forged as a ‘raider’, a standard-bearer with freedom of movement on the Nerazzurri board, playing behind Scamacca and attacking spaces with surgical precision.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister, the three likely starters on Thursday night, will have to take care of him out of sight.
The enormous figure of Teun Koopmeiners will require all the attention of the Liverpool midfield
The Dutchman is one of the most powerful players in Serie A and plays with surgical precision
In Italy they have long known how to block him: place a man behind him for 90 minutes who can limit his movements.
Koopmeiners is the best midfielder in Europe in terms of performance. He has physical strength and technical quality, while tactically he is a central midfielder who, with time and experience, has known how to be the decisive element.
In Serie A he has scored 11 goals and given three assists in 27 games. He looks like ‘Robocop’, he has a steely physique and will probably be the player he builds a cage next to.
Another fundamental player for Atalanta is Isak Hien. A physically impeccable defender, he is strong in acrobatics and controlling opposing defenders.
Liverpool will have to attack Atalanta with speed, avoiding the Swedish giant that occupies most of the central defensive area.
Hien is another physical Atalanta player and Liverpool would be better off overlooking him.
DE ROON AND EDERSON ARE TWO WORKING SQUIRRELS
The presence of Marten De Roon and Ederson will be essential to stop Liverpool’s attacks.
Like ‘Chip and Dale’, protagonists of the Disney cartoon, they are two hard-working Nerazzurri squirrels who will build a dam to prevent the Liverpool midfielder from entering the area head-on.
For the two midfielders, a perfect performance from an aerobic and mental point of view will be necessary.
In each match they cover an average of 10 kilometers and will surely play a fundamental role in the ‘destruction’ of Liverpool’s maneuvers.
Both are the bodyguards of Charles De Ketelaere, who according to Gasperini is in excellent physical shape.
Maarten De Roon puts pressure on Fiorentina during the recent Coppa Italia tie
Atalanta will be boosted by Charles De Ketelaere’s return to form for the match against Liverpool
The Belgian midfielder is the only Atalanta player who links the game between the midfield and the attack, and who will try to get between Liverpool’s defensive lines.
If De Roon and Ederson manage to resist the shock wave of the Red River, the balance of the match will probably tilt in favor of Atalanta.
THE ‘SPIES’ OF LIVERPOOL’S SECRETS
The mythical slogans “You will never walk alone” on the door and “This is Anfield” on the tunnel could intimidate Atalanta players because many are living their first experience in Europe.
Atalanta should not make the mistake of waiting for Liverpool in their field, they have to play head to head trying to win the main duels in the midfield.
The English experience of its four Premier League players will be fundamental in this.
Davide Zappacosta, Scamacca, Sead Kolasinac and Ademola Lookman know English football, they are experts in the Premier League and they understand that a match against Liverpool will be a very important test.
They will personally want to add to English football’s regret at losing them by trying to hurt Liverpool, and it will all have been at the heart of Gasperini’s pre-match technical discussions.
Former Arsenal player Sead Kolasinac has become the “silent support point” of his team’s defense
Kolasinac has become the silent support point of Atalanta’s defense and has raised his technical level, guaranteeing experience and charisma.
The slow decline of Rafael Toloi required a new asset capable of leading the defense and the Croatian giant proved to be an excellent signing without spending a single cent.
The former Arsenal star will be tasked with keeping Liverpool’s attackers at bay by trying to open up the game for Atalanta’s full-backs.
Blocking Kolasinac means Liverpool can stop moves that start with him at source.
ATALANTA HAS THE BEST GOALKEEPER IN ITALY
Atalanta’s number one, Marco Carnesecchi, is the best Italian goalkeeper at the moment, superior even to Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario and PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The match against Liverpool would have been fundamental to understand where his growth is, allowing the goalkeeper to measure his resistance to stress, but Juan Musso will play against the Reds.
He will leave Atalanta at the end of the season, but an excellent game could relaunch his ambitions to play for a top club. For Liverpool, Carnesecchi’s absence will be an advantage.
Marco Carnesecchi, considered the best goalkeeper in Italy, will miss the match against Liverpool
During this season, Liverpool have won 22 and drawn three of their 25 home games in all competitions, confirming how difficult it will be for Atalanta.
The last team to beat Liverpool at Anfield was Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid, 5-2, in the Champions League round of 16 on February 23, 2023.
Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota (out due to injury) and Luis DÃaz… the entire team is a goal-scoring machine with 82 scored between those five players.
Atalanta’s defense will have to maintain its tactical sense and manage the pace by attacking aggressively.