Atalanta 2 Sporting CP 1 (Round of 16)

Atalanta v Sporting CP
March 14^th, 2024
Gewiss Stadium
Europa League (Round of 16)

The Warm Up

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So far in what will be the finale to a double, double header, Sporting have failed to gain the upper hand against Atalanta. We had the 2-1 loss, the first half of which merits a vote as the worst half of football they’ve played in any match this season and the final scoreline owed much to the Serie A side taking their boot off the neck after half time. The first 1-1 draw away came at a time where their qualification was either already secured or albeit almost secured and therefore the want and need for all 3 points had waned. Sporting last Thursday were grateful to the woodwork not once but three times either side of half-time to keep them in the tie. Atalanta fielded a weakened side with the Juventus game in mind on Sunday teatime which ended in a 2-2 draw. This weekend they host a Fiorentina side who’ve struggled away from home all season so you’d expect them to play with a stronger side for this fixture. My first leg post laid the blueprint for success with a 3-5-2 formation but we know Amorim will not move from his 3-4-3 so it will not come as any surprise to me if we lose this tie and crash out of the Europa League. If we do I won’t complain because unless you’re ten pints in you’d be so hard pressed to make a decent case that we can win the competition. There’s bigger more saltier Portuguese fish to fry back home. One less set of games to worry about for a side who have been showing heavy legs in recent weeks. The ploughed field on Sunday night more suited to tractors than hosting professional footballers won’t have helped either. Given the poor attendance at home for the first leg there doesn’t seem much enthusiasm or appetite for an extended run in this competition. A title win would bring with it automatic qualification to the Champions League and that’s the promised land where we need to be if we are to stand any realistic chance of keeping the likes of Gyökeres for another season.

Confirmation prior to game day that Coates will play no part in the tie after picking up a knock in Sunday’s win. A precautionary move he is set to return in the league against Boavista. Adán is still sidelined with his thigh injury. Since I first posted Morita has also now dropped out having not travelled owing to feeling unwell. Maybe just sick at the thought of a fourth game against Atalanta and thinking bollocks to this. Mind you he is Japanese so maybe he was thinking Kore ni ad ai sansei. Apologies to Japanese readers if Google has done a hatchet job on your mother tongue as it does daily with Portuguese.

Danger man for Atalanta will be Teun Koopermeiners who is in a rich run of form and is being talked about for a summer transfer to Juventus who he scored a brace against in the 2-2 draw making it ten goals for the attacking midfielder this season.

The money markets

Atalanta 10/11 = 52.38% probability chance of win
Draw 14/5 = 26.32% probability chance of draw
Sporting 27/10 = 37.03% probability chance of win 

I believe that’s the biggest price Sporting have been for any game this season to win prior to kick off. 

Team News

Amorim shuffles the pack once more with two changes in the back line. Out goes Coates and Quaresma for St Juste and Inácio. Diomande will play centrally in the trio. Gonçalves drops back into midfield to replace Morita and Esgaio will provide additional defensive on the right coming in for Geny. With Gonçalves dropping back, Edwards comes into the forward three. They have it shown as a Christmas tree formation of 3,4,2,1 but I’ll believe that when I see it come kick off. 

First Half

I refuse to believe I’m alone in thinking if we get knocked out tonight it won’t be the worst thing in the world. The neighbours won their tie in Glasgow in the teatime kick off to progress which means they’ve another two games added to their season. Our lads have heavy legs already and we’re only just half way through March. I genuinely think it’s a minimum of two games we’re better off without and I say that as a fan who was truly gutted when we lost to Juventus. Maybe it’s because we actually have other aspirations this season – bigger aspirations.

Atalanta get us underway as they shoot left to right. I love the close ups of Scamacca and Trincão just prior to kick off. The Italian with his tattoos up his neck, the quintessential looking bad boy. Trincão the friendly musketeer you’d want your daughter to bring home in comparison.

2 Scamacca fires from 17 yards straight at Israel. Either side and Sporting were looking at a very long evening of football ahead of them

15 Kolasinac heads wide of the right post from 9 yards. Had that been on target Israel would have just watched it hit the net as he was stood flat footed in the centre of his goal

16 Sporting struggling to get a foothold in the opening third of the first half. The only thing of note is their shirts emblazoned with Heríos in place of the sponsors which I believe is Portuguese for heroes. Probably not the Cadbury chocolate selection. If we carry on playing like this I’ll be trying to work out which Sporting player fits each chocolate in the box

28 Corner to Sporting. The good news for Sporting has to be that Atalanta won’t be able to keep this pace for a full 90 minutes. At present they look like they’ve an extra man on the field. Looking at possible opponents Liverpool have scored 4 in the opening half hour, West Ham scored 5 earlier. Nothing that makes me think do you know what I’d really love to win tonight

32 GOAL Of course as I write that it’s now Atalanta 0 Sporting CP 1. Gonçalves played the ball into Gyökeres who used his strength to hold the ball up and allow Gonçalves to continue his run into the box and slot the ball between the keepers legs. His face is one of anguish as he celebrates… That’s his night done as he leaves the pitch in tears having suffered an injury. Short lived celebration.

35 Bragança replaces Gonçalves. You have to wonder by his reaction if that could be his season over.

38 Holm fires through a crowd of Sporting defenders straight at Israel

Two additional minutes

+1 Scamacca a yard offside as he initially brings a fine save from Israel to tip the ball over the bar to safety

Half time

Atalanta 0 Sporting CP 1

Well it’s only taken four games for Sporting to go in against Atalanta actually leading the game and it’s the first time Atalanta have failed to score against Sporting in the opening 45. For all their industry the Italians have failed to back it up with a goal and they’ll go in disappointed. I mentioned in the home leg the comparisons with the Braga 1-0 defeat and there are echoes here again as proof if was ever needed that sometimes you just need that one chance. Interestingly Sporting have had more possession given how those statistics are worked out based on total passes but to the naked eye it’s not felt that way and the majority of our passes will have been between defenders, so one good reason never to put any weight or value on that as a valid metric. The only one that ever counts is the scoreline.

Sad scenes for Gonçalves just as he for me had really started to find some form this second half of the season. Gyökeres has impressed again but when doesn’t he? Reis has looked solid on the left and continues to justify his selection ahead of Nuno Santos. His biggest story this year is going to be his hairline unless he bucks up his ideas.

Second half

45 GOAL 38 seconds into the second half and it’s Atalanta 1 Sporting CP 1. Cross from the right evades three defenders and Israel to boot and Lookman wanted it more as he tapped in from less than a yard at the back post with Esgaio an onlooker beside him. Well that was disappointingly quick – Those five words no man ever wants to hear

55 Sporting defending in banks of 5 and 4 as they just look to soak up some of this pressure and calm the pace of the game down and hit Atalanta on the counter if they can

58 GOAL Atalanta 2 Sporting CP 1. Scamacca scores his third of the season against us. He started the move playing the ball out wide right, continued his run into the box and with his marker the wrong side taps in from 5 yards out. Poor defending

60 Esgaio exits for Geny, Reis for Nuno Santos as Sporting look to chase an equaliser. Time for the latter to actually step up. No one denies he’s talented but this season he’s been a passenger. Iggy Pop as regular readers will know I’ve taken to calling him of late. 

63 Koopermeiners on for the hosts. Sporting’s night not getting any easier though Scamacca has now been withdrawn

69 Bragança brings out a save as he tries centrally from 25 yards. Shouts of being pure desperation really when you’re trying from that range

71 Surprised we’ve not seen Paulinho come on. This game is set up for the Wily old fox to being a bit of shit housery to it

74 St Juste for Quaresma and Trincão for Paulinho. Someone reading my mind clearly

77 Holm shown yellow for a foul on… Paulinho. I should be a script writer

77 Geny fires over from 20 yards as he aims for the top left hand corner. After Sunday he should have gone top right!

79 Inácio preparing for his post playing career as a physio as he helps Lookman with cramp

85 Five to play and I’m hoping there’s not an equaliser and extra time. I’m done after four games with the Italians. They deserve to go through

86 Paulinho tries to lob the keeper 1 on 1 but couldn’t get the height and the keeper knocks it down

88 Cross from the right skims off the head of Paulinho to safety

89 Nuno Santos fires in a low shot from a tight angle on the left, palmed to Edwards who blasts over from 14 yards. This season he’s been the most consistent Sporting player for efforts on target so if you wanted a chance to fall to anyone it would be him. Maybe he’s like me and thinking two less games to play if I miss

Plus four shown

Full time

Atalanta 2 Sporting CP 1

The Final Word

If I never have to watch another game with Sporting and Atalanta it will still be too soon. If we’re all honest we’re now breathing a sigh of relief at being knocked out. The better team won and sometimes that’s all you need to know. At no point in four games played against each other did I come away thinking we should have won that game. The Italian’s let’s be fair should have won the first leg at a canter having hit the woodwork three times.

It's not been an exciting campaign but it's given players added experience. Every cloud and all that. I’m pretty sure this is the last season where Champions League sides finishing third drop down and with Sporting expecting a Viking like raid on their squad in the summer even if we do get Champions League football next season, longer term you’d like to think it’s a competition you could compete in on fairer terms if you got past the knockout stage. This season the reality is you’ve got Liverpool who have scored 11 over their two legs. AC Milano who’ve scored 7 over theirs. Leverkusen who’ve not lost a single game in any competition all season long. Roma who scored four in their first leg, West Ham who’ve scored five tonight… No, our season and purpose is best served being out of the competition. We’re just a level below and as good as we’ve looked in our national competitions, that’s the truth and the cold hard reality of the situation, there’s just no sugar coating the fact.

Gyökeres put in another good performance but I don’t think he actually had a shot in the game. He was hampered I think by Gonçalves leaving so early. I think the plan was probably for those two to link and then for Trincão and Edwards to link which they did in fairness but not to any great deal of success.

We wait to see the extent of Gonçalves injury but having finally come into form he’ll be a big loss. Man of the match … oh god I’m going to start playing Guess Who again aren’t I. Logically you might say Edwards but I’m not convinced. Reis was steady but a solid 7. No one really impressed me at the back and Esgaio was always a yard off the pace on the right. Israel was always flat footed, Gonçalves wasn’t on the pitch long enough, I can’t keep giving it to Gyökeres. Bragança did OK but nothing to say he was better than Reis. Who does that leave? Well it’s not going to Trincão so Hjulmand it is then just by law of deduction even if I don’t think I mentioned him once during the game in my minute by minute. Can I give it to him? Fucking hell it shouldn’t be that hard. Sod it – Hjulmand it is.

Europa League done! Thank you and goodnight you won’t be missed. Fingers crossed it’s back to Champions League next season and a higher grade of disappointment when we get eliminated.