Atalanta go into Tuesday's Champions League clash with Real Madrid confident they can make more history as the new Serie A leaders aim for a top eight finish and push the 15-time kings of Europe closer to a shock elimination. Gian Piero Gasperini's side are in red-hot form and after going top of the pile in Italy, they find themselves in the unprecedented position of facing Madrid, with a number of pundits making them favorites to win in Bergamo. “That's a matter of opinion. I'm not exactly convinced, but if people want to say that, that's fine with me,” Gasperini said after the win over AC Milan on Friday.
Confidence is understandably high at Atalanta, who have a club record of nine straight wins in Serie A and are genuine contenders for the league title for the first time in their history.
And Atalanta were just as explosive in the Champions League, building on last season's historic Europa League win to finish in fifth place with 11 points from their first five games.
Atalanta could easily have made it five perfect wins from five as their goalless draws against Arsenal and Celtic produced a series of great scoring opportunities.
Tuesday's match at the Gewiss Stadium is an opportunity for revenge for the European Super Cup defeat in August, when the Italians came away with credit against a seemingly unbeatable Madrid, further strengthened by the arrival of Kylian Mbappe.
Atalanta eye last 16
They can also strengthen their case for direct qualification to the last 16, with most predictions saying they have already earned enough points to reach the play-offs, while five more are needed to secure a place in the top eight positions to secure.
“Tuesday is another big event for us, the club and the city of Bergamo,” said Gasperini.
“We are playing against Real Madrid close to our first goal in the Champions League, and maybe we can even achieve something more.”
Atalanta have never finished higher than third in Serie A, which they did for three seasons in a row between 2019 and 2021 with an exciting team featuring an action-packed attack from Josip Ilicic, Duvan Zapata and Papu Gomez.
But cheerful fans loudly chanted “we're going to win the league” after Ademola Lookman's late winner on Friday, the 10th goal of another remarkable season from the Nigerian forward.
Lookman, along with Charles De Ketelaere and Serie A top scorer Mateo Retegui, provide a powerful attacking threat, but the difference between Gasperini's previous Atalanta teams and the current generation is the ability to score victories.
If Madrid stars Vinicius Junior, Mbappe and Jude Bellingham want to get their Champions League campaign back on track in coach Carlo Ancelotti's home country, they will have to get past a team that has conceded just once in five European games .
“These victories don't just come out of the blue,” Gasperini said.
“This team goes for the win until the end. Every time. We always want to play and try to win.”
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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