ATALANTA APPOINT ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO AS THEIR NEW MANAGER
Atalanta today announced that a legend of Italian football - Alessandro Del Piero - has agreed to become their new manager. Del Piero, nicknamed Golden Boy, played with Padova before starring for Juventus for most of his career before finishing off in Australia. He also won over 90 caps for Italy.
Del Piero, despite having no previous link with Atalanta, was appointed as he is a young, hungry manager and wants to build a team with attacking flair and skill to reflect his playing career.
Atalanta have not got a rich history with regards to trophies. They have won Serie B twice, the Coppa Italia once and that's it although as a 2nd division side they did reach the Cup-Winners Cup semis which is a record for a non top division side in Europe.
They do however have a rich history in producing players and have helped the likes of Gaetano Scirea, Filippo Inzaghi, Christian Vieri, Giacomo Bonaventura and Davide Zappacosta are just a few names to have come through the club.
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THE AIM
To overhaul Juventus and build a dynasty in Italian football!!!!! Simple lol.
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THE DATABASE
This is my custom database. I have spent over a week updating it with promotions and relegations, transfers, released players, cancelling loans etc and even going through Europe to put the right teams in the right competition!
I am off on holiday this week so it will be a great week to start the story - football on tv, FM on the laptop, beers in the fridge - LETS GO!!!!!!
PRE-SEASON & AUGUST
Picture the scene. Last night while watching the footy I was getting my squad ready which included releasing over 40 players, loaning out about 30, doing a player search etc - it took me to nearly midnight and then I wake up in the morning, put on Sky Sports News and see that Frosinone got promoted to Serie A instead of Palermo!!! The perfectionist in me says that isn't good enough for me to have promoted Palermo so I had to start all over again but I have to say I have signed everyone I signed originally and am even worse off if anything!!!!
Anywho as I mentioned above I had and still have a load of deadwood in this squad. The downside of keeping a database up to date in Italy and starting a save so early is you have to deal with the 900 players that are usually on loan so I had to shift a load even if only to reduce the wage bill.
Before I reveal my signings I will tell you who I missed out on. Due to the update the Sporting Lisbon players that cancelled their contracts are on a free but Gelson Martins, William Carvalho and Bruno Fernandes preferred Naples, Madrid and Barcelona as their new homes while Bas Dost went to Inter I think and Emre Can is at Barcelona - all on free transfers. I even couldn't sign Ki Sung-Yeung as he joined CSKA Moscow.
Even more infuriatingly was the fact I had bids accepted for D'Amico and Vignato but they weren't interested in moving - AAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
Finally in the Europa League we have been drawn against Marseille, Sparta Prague and Qalabag.
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PLAYERS OUT
Dozens!!!! Nearly 40 released, loads loaned out and a few sold. The main sale however was Marco Sportiello who joined Fiorentina for £6.25m. In Gollini and Berisha I have 2 decent keepers so decided to cash in on Sportiello to give me a better budget.
On deadline day I sold veteran defender Andrea Masiello to Sampdoria for £3.8m. He is 31y/o and was 3rd choice plus his contract was up at the end of the season and he wanted a huge pay rise so I chose to cash in.
Other than that I sold a few rubbish players for low fees for a total of £1.5m and loaned out a few with the notable players being De Luca, Drame and D'Alessandro.
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PLAYERS IN
My starting budget was about £5m so I had work to do as I needed to get a few AMs as well as a full back. Firstly on free transfers I brought in Zeca from Santos and Daniel Podence who was the other player to cancel his Sporting Lisbon contract. Zeca will be my left back and he looks like an amazing player while Podence is only 21y/o and will be my RW. Both players should take us up a level and give us a huge profit in the end. View attachment 48979View attachment 48978
I brought in 2 more Portuguese players. Rafa was transfer listed at Benfica and I paid £4.3m to bring him to Atalanta while Xadas (who did well for me in my Newcastle save) came in from Braga for £850,000. Rafa will challenge Podence at RW but can play on the left and in the middle too while Xadas, who is only 19, is an AMC but can basically play anywhere in midfield. View attachment 48977View attachment 48976
My most expensive signing was the £5m I paid to Vasco Da Gama for Evander. The 19y/o looks like a player and will challenge Ilicic as my AMC. At the very least I hope he will progress into a fine player and we should make a profit on the lad. View attachment 48975
I also signed 2 youngsters. Luke Adzic came in from Red Star Belgrade for £600,000. The RW is only 18y/o and is a hot prospect but die to the foreigner rule in Italy I have loaned him back for the rest of the season. My other prospect is Moise Kean who obviously is a beast of a player. I have got him on a 2 year loan but the downside is if he does as well as he should it only makes it harder for me to get him off of Juventus permanently!!! He will be my backup LW. View attachment 48974View attachment 48973
Finally on deadline day brought Mattia Caldara back to the club on a 2 year loan deal from Juventus with a clause that we can buy him for £17.5m. I actually agreed the deal a week before but couldn't afford it and it was only when Masiello left that the deal could go through. Caldara is a wonderful CB and the fact that he is a player home-grown by the club is an added bonus. View attachment 48972
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SQUAD
My first XI is very competitive. I have 2 good keepers, a decent back four, some talented attacking midfielders and in Petagna I have a striker who knows his way to goal. I think my main weakness is in CM but I didn't have the budget to fix every position!!!!
I hope to qualify for the Europa League next season and I think I have a squad to do that.
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AUGUST
v
Atalanta 2 (Petagna 16, Melegoni 76) Fiorentina 0 Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Mancini, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence (Rafa), Ilicic (Evander), Gomez, Petagna*
A fantastic first game in charge - we were excellent. Fiorentina never troubled us and we dominated throughout. We took the lead when Petagna flicked in at the near post from a Gomez cross and from then on we piled on the pressure. In the 2nd half they had Benassi sent-off and within 5min I made my subs and one of them - hot prospect Melegoni - scored!!!
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v
Roma 2 (El Shaarawy 17, Schick 22) Atalanta 0
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Mancini, Rafael Toloi, Gosens, de Roon*, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence (Rafa), Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna
This was an extremely harsh result as we matched Roma throughout. We missed so many chances and hit the woodwork a few times but in the end they were more ruthless than us and that was the difference in the end.
We were excellent here as we put Genoa to the sword. Ilicic was immense and he scored a hat-trick while Petagna scored again which was nice - encouraging signs.
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UEFA Europa League Group H v
Sparta Prague 0 Atalanta 2 (Rafa 86, Melegoni 88) Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Mancini, Palomino (Bastoni), Gosens, Evander, Melegoni, Rafa*, Xadas, Kean, Cornelius (Capone)
I played my backups here and they did a fine job. It looked like we were getting a respectable draw but then Rafa scored an incredible goal as he got the ball in his own half and just ran and ran with it before slotting past their keeper. Melegoni then scored from the edge of the box to seal the victory.
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v
Torino 1 (Belotti 50) Atalanta 2 (Petagna 24, Caldara 85) Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Gosens), de Roon, Freuler, Rafa (Xadas), Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna
A very impressive away performance as we defeat Torino. Our winning goal was pretty special as Kean chipped the ball into the box and Caldara volleyed in first time from an angle.
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne(Hateboer), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence, Ilicic (Evander), Gomez*, Petagna
Another convincing victory as we win 3 in a row in the league that sees us move up to 2nd in the table. We play the top team, Inter Milan, next.
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v
Inter Milan 3 (Dost 37, 63, Mensah 53) Atalanta 0 Lineup - Berisha, Castagne (Hateboer), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Xadas), Ilicic (Evander), Gomez, Petagna
The scoreline makes it look like we got a thumping but not so - we actually had 15 attempts at goal!!! That being said they had 22 and deserved the win.
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UEFA Europa League Group H v
Atalanta 3 (Gomez 70, Kean 77, Evander 88) Marseille 2 (N'jie 4, Germain 45) Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, de Roon, Melegoni, Podence (Kean), Ilicic (Evander), Gomez*, Petagna
WHAT A COMEBACK!!!!! We were 2 down at half-time and looked out of it but when I made my triple substitution we came to life. Gomez scored a peach from distance, Kean tapped in after a Melegoni long range shot was parried and Evander slotted home the late winner.
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SUMMARY
We had our first full month of fixtures and it went pretty well all told. We won every match apart from our defeat against Inter and even got a great comeback victory over Marseille.
It was also a good month for Andrea Petagna as he scored a few goals, generally played well, got a new contract and got called up to the Italy squad for the first time!!!
Octobers fixtures are quite kind so hopefully we can build up a bit of momentum before we face the likes of Napoli, Juventus and AC Milan.
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Haas), Melegoni, Podence*, Ilicic (Xadas), Gomez (Kean), Petagna
We bounce back in the league with victory here. Our 2nd goal was a fantastic team move which was finished off by Podence from a Zeca cross.
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v
Frosinone 0 Atalanta 3 (Podence 32, Petagna 36, 38)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence, Ilicic (Evander), Gomez, Petagna*
Nice and easy. Once again Podence scored by being at the end of Zeca's cross after a fine team move while Petagna's 2nd goal was hilarious as he headed off the bar and the ball bounced off him as he fell and rolled in!!!
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UEFA Europa League Group H
v
Qarabag 0 Atalanta 2 (Evander 8, Paloschi 29)
Out came the backups again and they did the job as we now have won all 3 group games.
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Atalanta 2 (Podence 51, Evander 90) Spal 0
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence*, Ilicic (Evander), Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Paloschi)
3 wins in a row for the 2nd time already in Serie A this season. Our first goal? Zeca runs down the left and crosses it in for Podence to finish at the back post yet again!!!! Our final goal was a counter attack and Podence squared for Evander for a tap in. This win takes us top of the table.
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Sassuolo 0 Atalanta 2 (Gomez 38, Ilicic 56)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Evander), Freuler, Podence, Ilicic*, Gomez, Petagna (Kean)
Another win!!! We were helped by the fact that they had a man sent-off in the first 20min and once we took the lead it was game over in truth.
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v
Atalanta 0 Lazio 1 (Wallace 42)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Rafa), Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Paloschi)
Apparently we went into this match as favourites but in the end Lazio deserved their win and even had an early goal disallowed.
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SUMMARY
As I eluded to in the previous month, October had some kind fixtures and our results showed that. We won every game apart from the home defeat against Lazio which was quite annoying.
We are currently 2nd in the table but if you swapped our position with Juventus in 6th you would pprobably have the top 6 sides in Italy lining up although Lazio may have something to say about that - especially having beaten us.
Off the field my chairman has agreed to invest in youth and training facilities which is great.
We laboured to victory here although things could have been different had Paloschi not missed an early penalty.
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v
Sampdoria 1 (Caprari 18) Atalanta 2 (Petagna 86, 90)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Rafa), Ilicic (Xadas), Gomez (Kean), Petagna*
Sampdoria have 1 win in the league so far and were so close to making it two but Petagna struck twice late on to give us the victory. I actually didn't see the winning goal and thought we drew 1-1 tbh lol!!!
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v
Atalanta 4 (Gomez 16, Petagna 45, de Roon 66, Melegoni 90)
Juventus 1 (Dybala 38)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence*, Ilicic, Gomez, Petagna
WOW!!!!!! Never did I expect this result. We took the lead before Dybala deservedly levelled but Petagna glanced in a header on the stroke of half-time to give us the lead again. De Roon then scored with a piledriver and Melegoni scored with a looping header at the end. A terrific performance.
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UEFA Europa League Group H
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Atalanta 1 (Evander 10) Sparta Prague 0 Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Mancini, Palomino, Gosens, Xadas, Melegoni, Rafa (Podence), Evander (Mazzocchi), Kean, Paloschi (Cornelius)
Not bad. Another run out for my backups and they win which makes it 5 wins out of 5 in the group and we are 7pts clear of 2nd placed Marseille.
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Joao Schmidt), Freuler, Podence*, Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna
Another fantastic victory. We were gifted a penalty in the 1st minute and were 3up within 10 minutes - after that we just cruised to the finish.
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SUMMARY
A perfect month!!!! We were immense as we won every single game with the highlight being the 4-1 home victory over Juventus where we were clinical. We rode our luck at times, especially against Sampdoria but on the whole our team was superb.
Petagna has 12 goals in 14 league appearances and is top scorer and has the highest average rating while Podence leads the way in assists (7) and MoM awards (4). In Serie A we are getting the absolute maximum out of our players and we will ride the crest of the wave until it stops.
I also signed a new contract at the end of the month which was nice while during the month Rafael Toloi also signed a new deal.
DECEMBER
v
Atalanta 1 (Ilicic 39) AC Milan 2 (Biglia 51, Bacca 60) Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Rafa), Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Paloschi)
This was an enthralling match which deserved to be a draw. We battered them in the 1st half and should have been further ahead but they turned the tables around in the 2nd half and were more ruthless in front of goal.
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UEFA Europa League Group H
v
Marseille 2 (Ocampos 40, Lopez 70) Atalanta 4 (Paloschi 1pen, 84, de Roon 15, Rafa 90) Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello, Mancini, Palomino (Bastoni), Gosens, de Roon*, Melegoni, Rafa, Xadas, Kean, Paloschi
6 wins out of 6!!!!! The fact my backup players defeated Marseille away is a fine feat. Sure I was annoyed when we let a 2 goal lead slip but we scored twice late on to maintain our 100% record in the group.
This is the 4th time we have scored 4 goals in Serie A already this season!!! Our players are performing far above their expected levels and I am just going to enjoy riding the crest of the wave while it happens.
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Coppa Italia 1st Round v
Atalanta 3 (Paloschi 31, 34, 90) Padova 0
My cup side were never really troubled here as Paloschi's hat-trick doubles his goalscoring tally for the season.
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v
Atalanta 3 (Petagna 8, Podence 17, Rafael Toloi 56) Chievo 1 (Hetemaj 47)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne (Mattiello), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Evander), Podence*, Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna
I have just noticed that we are yet to draw a game in both league and cup!!!!! Chievo were no match for us here tbh and our 2 early goals killed the game dead pretty much.
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v
Empoli 1 (D'Alessandro 85) Atalanta 2 (Petagna 18, Melegoni 90) Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Melegoni*), Freuler, (Evander) Podence, Ilicic (Xadas), Gomez, Petagna
I almost got the draw here but Melegoni scored the winner with a shout for goal of the season as he volleyed in from the edge of the area. Empoli had De Luca and their goalscorer D'Alessandro on loan from us and I was livid when the latter scored a late equaliser.
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Coppa Italia Quarter-Final v
Juventus 3 (Mandzukic 32, 38, 62) Atalanta 4 (Petagna 34, 74, Gomez 63pen, 83) Lineup - Berisha, Castagne (Mattiello), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence, Ilicic (Xadas), Gomez, Petagna
WOW!!!!! We beat Juventus again and score 4 past them again to make it into the semis. What a comeback this was as at 3-1 down with under half an hour to go we looked doomed but they gave away a needless penalty and that gave us the momentum to get a magnificent away victory.
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v
Atalanta 3 (Petagna 54, Ilicic 61, Kean 65) Napoli 3 (Insigne 12, Hamsik 16, 80)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Gosens), de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Rafa), Ilicic, Gomez (Kean), Petagna
Now we finally draw a game!!! It was almost another fantastic comeback victory but Hamsik got his 2nd goal late on earn them a point.
DISASTER - Ilicic got injured late on and is out for 7-8 months with damaged cruciate ligaments.
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SUMMARY
This month was just crazy. It started with a harsh defeat against AC Milan but after that we beat Marseille, Cagliari, Padova and Chievo easily enough before just squeaking past Empoli. Then came the cup quarter-final and our astonishing comeback victory over Juventus and then we almost repeated the same trick over Napoli but we had to settle for the draw.
We end the calendar year 1pt clear at the top of the table, through in Europe where we will face Feyenoord and in the Coppa Italia we have been given an extremely kind draw in Serie B side Cesena in the semis - all good.
Obviously the bad news is Ilicic's long term injury. He has been great for us and scored 9 goals in 21 games but his season is over and it is now up to either Evander or Xadas to take over from him. Hopefully the youngsters can do it.
Also Andrea Petagna has been linked with a move to Man City and I have promised him that we will qualify for the Champions League next season which seemed to appease him - we better not go on a horrible run now!!!!
Finally one of my hopeless U20 players has won the award as Young African Footballer of the Year. Don't know how as he has only played a handful of games for the U20s lol.
JANUARY
v
Fiorentina 0 Atalanta 2 (Gomez 20pen, Podence 29)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Joao Schmidt), Melegoni, Podence, Evander (Xadas), Gomez (Kean), Petagna*
A strange game - we got absolutely battered in the 1st half yet went into half-time 2-0 up!!! We improved a bit in the 2nd half but overall they were better than us but it is a great result.
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v
Atalanta 3 (Freuler 38, Petagna 40, 60) Roma 1 (Kolarov 88)
Roma are the big side that are underachieving this season and have just sold a few players, notably Strootman, and we piled on the misery here by easily beating them. They even sacked their manager immediately after the match.
New signing Felice D'Amico made his debut here.
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v
Genoa 1 (Matri 84) Atalanta 1 (Petagna 30)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Gosens), de Roon, Freuler, Podence (D'Amico), Evander (Xadas), Gomez, Petagna*
Another rare draw! I am disappointed that we threw away the lead late on but I cant be too harsh on my players.
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Coppa Italia Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
Atalanta 2 (Melegoni 4, D'Amico 11)
Cesena 0
Lineup - Gollini, Mattiello (Hateboer), Mancini, Bastoni, Gosens, Xadas, Melegoni, Rafa, D'Amico* (Haas), Kean, Coman
My cup side got a run out here and the win puts us with one foot in the final. D'Amico didn't even last a half before he was injured but he scored a screamer and still got the MoM award while Florinel Coman, who was signed hours before kick-off on deadline day, made his debut.
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SUMMARY
The new year has started as the old one finished as we continue going strong. We got excellent victories against Fiorentina and Roma before a surprising draw with Genoa before defeating Cesena in the cup.
The main news in the month was transfer related. We spent nearly £20m on four players although only 2 can join just now - which is a risk considering I can make Caldara's move permanent for £17.5m.
The 2 signings who can play just now are Felice D'Amico and Florinel Coman who came in from Palermo and Steaua for £4.5m and £4.7m respectively. D'Amico will be my RW in a year or two and although only 17 is in the first team squad while Coman at only 19 is an upgrade on Paloschi. View attachment 48744View attachment 48741
Outgoing was basically the rest of my U20s who I couldn't sell in the summer but also one or 2 first team members as Palomino joined Lazio for £6m, Cornelius joined Udinese for £1.9m and Joao Schmidt returned to Brazil for £1.1m. In total I recouped nearly £11m in the window.
I did make a mistake by 18y/o defender Dossena on a new deal. He looked ok but nothing special however Chelsea offered him a deal and he signed it. He is worth over £5m now ffs!!!!! They paid me £250,000 to have him immediately.
I could have raked in over £100m more as I rejected bids for Petagna worth up to £60m and Gomez up to £40m plus Man City bid £15m for Zeca. Zeca isn't happy but hopefully qualifying for the Champions League will shut him up.
Petagna's first hat-trick of the season as we get another comeback victory - we never know when we are beat!!! Coman came off the bench to score for the 2nd game running.
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UEFA Europa League 1st Round 1st Leg v Feyenoord 1 (Larsson 14) Atalanta 3 (Gomez 5, 32, Coman 78)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi*, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Rafa), Evander (Kean), Gomez, Petagna (Coman)
A great away victory but it should have been more as Gomez missed a penalty for his hat-trick and Caldara had a goal disallowed. Yet again Coman came off the bench to score!!!! Bad news however as Podence, Gomez and Evander picked up knocks.
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v
Atalanta 1 (Rafa 22) Inter Milan 0 Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Gosens), de Roon, Melegoni, Rafa, Freuler, Kean (Coman), Petagna (Paloschi)
STOP DREAMING - WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!!
This is an amazing victory. It was a tight match but it was won when Rafa finished from a tight angle and after that both teams tried their best but no more goals were coming. This victory is even more remarkable when you consider that I was without my 3 AMCs (Ilicic, Evander, Xadas), 2 RWs (Podence, D'Amico) and my LW (Gomez)!!!!
We are now 4pts clear of Inter and 5 clear of Juventus.
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UEFA Europa League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v
Atalanta 3 (Coman 52, Evander 57pen, Rafa 62) Feyenoord 1 (van der Heijden 4) (Agg: 6-2)
Petagna is single handedly driving us towards the title as he picked up his 2nd hat-trick in 3 league games. We were helped by the fact that our player out on loan to Parma, Drame, got sent-off just after we took the lead.
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Coppa Italia Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Cesena 2 (Cacia 25, 89) Atalanta 4 (Kean 20, Evander 29pen, 77, Rafa 44) (Agg: 2-6)
My cup side takes us into the final where Roma will lie in wait. Evander is really coming onto a game in AMC in Ilicic's absence while Rafa keeps scoring so keeps keeping Podence out of the team.
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SUMMARY
Any month where you win every game is a great month and this one is no different as we made some great strides in Serie A and progressed in Europe and into the Coppa Italia final.
In the league we thumped Torino and Udinese before we got a fantastic win over Inter before thumping seemingly doomed Parma which sees us open up a healthy gap at the top of the table. I am now actually thinking we can do this!!!!
In the cups we comfortably beat Feyenoord home and away and we have been drawn against AC Milan in the next round which will be tough and in the Coppa Italia we pushed aside Cesena to set up a final match with Roma.
Next month we have the youth intake - Atalanta have amazing youth facilities (rated the 6th best in the world I read somewhere) so here's hoping!!!!
I have had a few people asking for my tactic and there it is - the same one I always use. That being said I cant remember a striker scoring so many like Petagna has and I don't normally play with a target man so maybe a target man is best!!!!
I always play players in their best roles and positions etc
Not a great performance but I chose to rest some players for the upcoming AC Milan game so a drop in standard is understandable.
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UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 1st Leg v AC Milan 3 (Bacca 9, 85, Calhanoglu 59) Atalanta 1 (Zeca 23)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Mancini, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence (Rafa), Evander, Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Coman)
Not good. Not good at all. We fell behind but levelled through an unlikely source in Zeca as bhe blasted in from the edge of the area but in the 2nd half we were terrible and were punished accordingly. We aren't completely out of it but its an uphill battle now.
A decent win as once again I rested a few players for the European tie. Rafa was fantastic as he and Podence are certainly having a battle to see who is my first choice RW.
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UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 2nd Leg v Atalanta 2 (Evander 43, Romagnoli og83) AC Milan 0 (Agg: 3-3 - Atalanta win on away goals)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca (Mattiello), de Roon, Freuler, Podence*, Evander (Coman), Gomez, Petagna (Melegoni)
WE DID IT!!!!!
This was a fantastic victory as we put in a great performance. We took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Evander crashed in a shot from the edge of the area but in the 2nd half nothing was happening so on 70min I made a change to go 2 up front and just told the players to go for it and it paid off!!!!
We got a couple of attacks but got the winning goal when a cross was put into his own net by Romagnoli. Immediately after Coman missed an open goal from distance after he robbed Donnarumma and I thought that may be costly but I then went ultra defensive and we held on.
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v Atalanta 1 (Petagna 62) Sassuolo 0
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Melegoni), Freuler, Podence, D'Amico*, Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Gianetto)
Not our best performance of the season but we got the win and that's the main thing. One of the prospects from our youth intake, Davide Gianetto, made his debut here.
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SUMMARY
This was a strange old month as we won just about all our games but our performances certainly dropped but whether that's nerves or just due to me chopping and changing the team this month I don't know but the main thing is that we are still winning.
Inter Milan are probably out of the title race and now its between ourselves and Juventus but we have a 5pt lead at the top and we have to play them away which will be a tough match.
In the Europa League we came through against AC Milan despite losing the first leg 3-1 but we got the result we needed in the 2nd leg and in the quarter-finals we have been given a kind draw in the shape of Marseille who we have beaten home and away already this season.
This was incredibly frustrating as we were all set for a vital away win but Freuler got sent-off and then when I made my 3 subs Coman got injured so I went down to 9 men and then they equalised.
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UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 1st Leg v
Atalanta 2 (Petagna 43, 50) Marseille 0 Lineup - Berisha, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, de Roon (Melegoni), Freuler, Podence, Evander, Gomez (Kean), Petagna*
This should be good enough to book a semi-final slot. Amazingly this is Petagna's first goals in this seasons Europa League!!!!
Lineup - Berisha, Mattiello (Agostinelli), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Melegoni (Haas), Rafa (Xadas), Evander, Gomez, Petagna*
As long as we keep winning Juve cant catch us - the only problem is Juve keep on winning and we have the crunch title match away to them in our next league game.
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UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg v
Marseille 1 (Lopez 24) Atalanta 1 (Rafa 64) (Agg: 1-3)
I had faith that my cup side could do the business here and so it proved. Marseille played well and were the better team but from the moment we scored it was game over.
Lineup - Berisha, Mattiello (Hateboer), Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Rafa, Evander, Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Paloschi)
Juve draw level with us on points here in the crunch match. We would have all but assured the title had we won but my players bottled it in truth. Having said that Kean had a goal disallowed at 3-1 just before Chiellini scored his goal for them so that would have made it interesting had it counted.
Back to winning ways and it secured Champions League football for next season and I have been rewarded with a whopping budget of £7.95m!!!! FFS lol.
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v
AC Milan 2 (Andre Silva 60, 80) Atalanta 1 (Petagna 40)
Lineup - Berisha, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Rafa (Podence), Evander (Xadas), Gomez (Kean), Petagna
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!! We were so close to a vital away point but we couldn't hold on and we give Juventus the advantage in the title race - it looks like its going to go all the way!!!! Juventus fortunately could only draw so they move only 1pt ahead of us now.
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UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
AS Monaco 3 (Balde 5, Lemar 24, Falcao 85) Atalanta 1 (Evander 21)
Lineup - Berisha, Mattiello, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence, Evander, Gomez (Kean), Petagna (Coman)
At 2-1 I was quite content but then we allowed Falcao to score late on which seriously ****** me off. We now need to replicate our comeback win against AC Milan earlier in the competition to go through.
I took a huge gamble in resting my first choice players and it worked out thankfully, it was only after the final whistle went that I realised how big a risk it was to rest my first XI but I figured the chance to win all 3 trophies with Atalanta in the first season is worth the risk I thought.
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SUMMARY
A hectic month where we have probably had more low points than high points for a change. We have let the lead at the top of the table slip and with Napoli away on the last day of the season we know the odds are all of a sudden against us. Juve have Inter away so it will go right to the wire.
In Europe we have an uphill task to overhaul Monaco. The strength of the competition is huge as Chelsea and Arsenal are the other semi-finalists. Normally I would see Monaco as an easy draw but not when you are Atalanta in the 1st season.
MAY UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg v
Atalanta 4 (Podence 32, 74, Evander 57, 80)
AS Monaco 0 (Agg: 5-3)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler, Podence, Evander*, Gomez, Petagna (Coman)
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
I have to be honest I would prefer us winning the league than the Europa League but we were immense here as my players yet again overhauled a sizeable first leg deficit. Podence and Evander both got doubles to see us through - Evander has 11 goals this season and 8 have been in the Europa League!!!
PETAGNA!!!! When he scored late on it was a cue for me bouncing around the room (Del Piero in the dugout) as once again my gamble of resting some players paid off. Chievo were bottom in the form table but they put up a fight here. That's 40 goals in 44 apps for Petagna!!!!
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Coppa Italia Final
v
Roma 0 Atalanta 2 (Petagna 2, Gomez 23) Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon (Melegoni), Freuler, Podence (D'Amico), Evander, Gomez*, Petagna
WE WIN THE CUP!!!!
I am thrilled with this victory - even though it is 3rd on the priority list as the season closes. We got off to a perfect start when Petagna scored early on and then Gomez added a 2nd and we were on easy street. De Rossi got sent-off soon after and it was game over.
Yet again I gamble with my team selection but yet again my players respond and come up with the goods but even better - Juventus lost away to Inter so we are 2pts clear with 1 game to go!!!!
It sounds too good to be true and it may just well be - we have Arsenal in a European final first and then days later our decider against Napoli away while Juventus have an easy fixture at home to Parma.
I don't actually know if it would be decided on goal difference or head to head tbh we edge the head to head and have a +5 advantage on goal difference.
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UEFA Europa League Final v
Arsenal 0 Atalanta 3 (Gomez 17, Evander 22, Mancini 89)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi (Mancini), Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence, Evander, Gomez*, Petagna (Kean)
WE WIN THE EUROPA LEAGUE!!!!!
We were fantastic here and burst into an early 2 goal lead which put us in the driving seat and then it was all about holding on. They then had Chambers sent-off in the 2nd half and Mancini's 3rd goal sealed the deal.
Now to see if we can win the title...….
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v
Napoli 3 (Insigne 30, Jorginho 67, Martins 75) Atalanta 3 (Gomez 16, 54, de Roon 84)
Lineup - Berisha, Castagne, Caldara, Rafael Toloi, Zeca, de Roon, Freuler (Melegoni), Podence (Rafa), Evander, Gomez* (Kean), Petagna
YES WE CAN!!!!!!
The league somehow made Juventus play before us (they won 4-1) so we knew what we had to do - avoid defeat and the title was ours and that's what we did but it wasn't easy.
Firstly Berisha saved Hamsik's penalty on 10min and then shortly after Gomez put us in front only for Insigne to level and so it was til half-time. Gomez struck again in the 2nd half but then we conceded an equaliser and then another to put us in disarray.
I then changed tactics - went all out attack and it worked as de Roon charged into the box to score a rare goal. After that it was all out defend!!!!!
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SUMMARY
Nothing really needs to be said lol
A dream month - cant believe we have actually done it!!!!!
END OF SEASON POST
What a season. Never would I think that my side would win the quadruple at the first time of asking. I don't know if its because of my database and I cancelled all the loans that it weakened a lot of sides and that made a difference? Even then I would have loved to have had Spinazzola and a couple of others.
Anyway normally I would say it has ruined the save getting so much success so early but I am thrilled with my young team and look forward to bringing them on.
In the league we were always up there, the fact we only drew 4 games helped, and at one point we were 5pts clear and threatening to run away with it but Juventus beat us and then we lost to AC Milan and all of a sudden we were chasing Juve but thankfully they drew their match while we lost to Milan and then they lost to Inter so we just needed a point on the final day to win the title and that's what we got!!!! I don't know if we won the league on the head to head record or goal difference as we were superior in both!!!
I suppose we did what Leicester did in real life!
In the Coppa Italia the highlight was the 4-3 win away to Juventus when we were 3-1 down with 20min to play although beating Roma in the final 2-0 was great too!!
As for the Europa League - I really didn't think we would win it as the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and Monaco were in it but somehow we prevailed. We sailed through the groups and then easily beat Feyenoord before coming up against AC Milan. Milan beat us 3-1 away and we just scraped through on away goals when we won 2-0 in the 2nd leg. Marseille were then despatched and then it was Monaco in the semis. They too beat us 3-1 but this time we overturned the first leg deficit by thrashing the French side 4-0.
In the final we came up against Arsenal and demolished them 3-0 in a fine performance - truly a remarkable achievement!!!
Serie A Player of the Year - Andrea Petagna
Serie A Top Goalscorer - Andrea Petagna
Serie A Manager of the Year - Alessandro Del Piero
Serie A Managers Manager of the Year - Alessandro Del Piero
Serie A Team of the Year - Rafael Toloi, Mattia Caldara, Filippo Melegoni (!!!!), Andrea Petagna
Serie A Fair Play Club of the Year
Serie A Best Club of the Year
Serie A Striker of the Year - Andrea Petagna
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