Atalanta’s Ascent: Underdogs Battling for Their Maiden Serie A Title
During Atalanta’s Christmas gathering, the chairman, Antonio Percassi, raised a toast. Over the past year, especially after clinching the Europa League title in Dublin last May, the club he once represented has garnered envy across Europe. “We were pivelli,” he often mentions. Novices. Total newcomers, virtually inexperienced in UEFA competitions only seven years ago. More than the visible admiration, however, is the significant respect that Atalanta’s accomplishments have earned. “We’ve established connections with clubs throughout Europe, and they continually shower us with praise,” Percassi beamed.
But that’s not the only thing they provide Atalanta.
Researchers at the CIES Football Observatory recently assessed that Atalanta has generated a remarkable €236 million profit from player transfers over the last decade, with the highest transfer fee coming from Manchester United, who acquired Rasmus Hojlund after just one season in Bergamo for €73.9 million (£61 million). Amad, who scored the winner in the Manchester derby, made similar moves two and a half years prior, having played a mere 59 minutes for La Dea’s first team. That transfer could total €44 million (£36 million).
(Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Such sales often signal the disbanding of a high-performing team, yet Atalanta’s first trophy in over 60 years arrived in football terms well after these transactions. When Percassi proposed a toast, he did so from a remarkable position. Atalanta stood alone at the summit of the Serie A table after 15 matches. They maintained that position the following weekend. This marked the first instance since Opta began tracking statistics in Italy that Atalanta occupied the top spot for consecutive weeks. Their victory against Cagliari in Sardinia on December 14, a location where they had faltered last year, marked their tenth consecutive league triumph; a new club record. On Sunday, they clinched a thrilling 3-2 win over Empoli, secured by a last-minute goal from Charles De Ketelaere.
The win over Cagliari held considerable significance from both contemporary and cultural perspectives.
To begin with, unlike Milan and Juventus, they did not drop points after midweek European fixtures. Once again, Atalanta’s squad depth proved pivotal. Nicolo Zaniolo came off the bench, just like he did against Roma, to score the defining goal. Furthermore, should Atalanta secure the Scudetto for the first time, it would resonate similarly to what Cagliari accomplished in 1970. “We must remain grounded and exercise caution,” Percassi cautioned, “because this business can be very deceptive, and we’re steering a club that lacks the financial power to compete with others.”
The defending champions Inter, for instance, announced record revenues of €473 million in the fall. Close rivals Milan trailed at €457 million. Even with their Champions League exit, Juventus, though experiencing a downturn, reported €394 million. In contrast, Atalanta, after an extraordinary season and eight consecutive years of consistent improvement on the pitch, accrued €242 million. Thus, when discussing Atalanta’s aspirations for a title run, we still envision a featherweight that has just made its way to middleweight trying to contend in the heavyweight division.
Or do we?
Atalanta is leaner and more agile than its rivals. Their wage expenditure places them outside the top four, yet they possess financial resources reminiscent of Brighton & Hove Albion following Chelsea’s repeated raids. The Seagulls capitalized on this advantage in the market last summer when other Premier League clubs were apprehensive about profit and sustainability regulations. In Atalanta’s case, their Europa League victory, coupled with qualification for the most lucrative edition of the Champions League and leveraging Teun Koopmeiners’ singular desire to join Juventus—resulting in a sale second only to Hojlund’s transfer to Old Trafford last summer—has further enriched their already abundant coffers.
(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
More new investors have joined majority owner Steve Pagliuca and acquired stakes in the club. Renovations at Gewiss Stadium, formerly known as Atleti Azzurri d’Italia, have reached completion, transforming it into a stylish venue with a Premier League ambiance and a Serie A vibe that promises to boost revenues. Although still a relatively small club in name, Atalanta has ascended to lower upper-class status in reality.
This rise has, in turn, elevated Bergamo. Sitting at the top of Serie A, the city has also recently ranked first in Il Sole 24 Ore’s annual quality of life survey, marking the best place to live in Italy. “This remarkable achievement, five years post-pandemic, brings great pride to our community,” remarked Bergamo’s mayor, Elena Carnevali, to the newswire ANSA. “Yet it also calls for a profound sense of accountability for our future.”
No one has contributed more to this transformation than Atalanta’s coach, Gian Piero Gasperini. The fortunes of the Percassis as guardians of Atalanta took a turn for the better when they appointed him as coach in 2016. Players like Papu Gomez, who became synonymous with Atalanta, have departed, yet the club has continued to thrive. The exit of sporting director Giovanni Sartori, who swiftly molded Bologna into a Champions League-capable team for the first time in six decades, didn’t alter much. Gasperini has been the one enduring presence. Though Atalanta has evolved into something beyond the sum of its parts—encompassing the executive team, academy, and recruitment—he remains the indispensable element. If he were removed from the equation, would it still compute?
The Percassis might assert that they’ve cultivated a stable environment that Gasperini strives for. For example, he lifted Genoa back to the Serie A following an 11-year absence but often found his best players sold by the owner Enrico Preziosi within mere months of their breakthrough. The intelligence of the Percassis, bolstered by support from Pagliuca, has permitted Atalanta to preserve teams for extended periods and to rebuild with increased strength.
This current iteration feels like Gasperini’s third or fourth squad in eight years. Many believed the apex had been reached between 2018 and 2021. During that span, Atalanta twice reached the Coppa Italia finals, came agonizingly close to a Champions League semi-final, and secured third place in Serie A for three consecutive seasons. They were the highest-scoring team in Italy across those years, even netting 116 goals in all competitions during the 2019-20 season alone. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. However, conflicts arose between Gasperini and Papu, mental health struggles affected Josip Ilicic, and Duvan Zapata started suffering injury troubles, causing the narrow window of opportunity to win something to appear to close.
(Chris Ricco/Getty Images)
Nevertheless, Atalanta returned to the Coppa Italia final. They became the first Italian club to lift the UEFA Cup this century (with Parma being the last Serie A team to do so in 1999) and now carry the aura and confidence to potentially bring the Scudetto to Bergamo. Gasperini has mentioned a mindset shift upon returning from Dublin. Atalanta triumphed over Liverpool at Anfield and overcame the undefeated Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League. Such nights, coupled with the experience of navigating a rigorous 56-game season—making two finals, winning one, and finishing in Serie A’s top four—have sparked a pivotal change in mentality.
While Gasperini pondered if he should move on—wasn’t winning the Europa League the pinnacle?—and received interest from Napoli, he likely recognized this team still possesses untapped potential. Besides, as he learned during his brief tenure at Inter, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and starting anew isn’t always easy. At Atalanta, Gasperini holds unprecedented influence—he even negotiated a percentage on player sales as an addition to his contract. He has seamlessly integrated Berat Djimsiti and Marten de Roon into his vision, expanding his coaching staff to extend beyond the sidelines. By this point, Gasperini’s assistants practically occupy the pitch alongside him.
Unlike Milan and Juventus, whose squads have become primarily composed of foreign players, Atalanta, much like their main rivals Inter, boasts a strong Italian core that maintains internal cohesion. The squad is deeper than ever. The anticipated fallout from Sartori’s departure was mitigated through various adjustments. They broadened their search for talent.
Lee Congerton took on the role of head of international development in spring 2022 after a stint at Leicester City. Now at Al Ahli, it’s difficult to envision Atalanta aggressively pursuing former Leicester City loanee Ademola Lookman, who recently earned the African Footballer of the Year title and triumphed with a hat-trick against Leverkusen, without Congerton’s contributions. Sudarshan Gopaladesikan joined from Benfica as the director of football intelligence, playing a significant role in the endorsement of Hojlund when he was still an unknown entity at Sturm Graz. Sartori’s more traditional successor, Tony D’Amico, built on the reputation he forged at Verona. A player D’Amico acquired for Verona, Isak Hien, followed him to Atalanta and developed to such a degree over the past 18 months that a transfer fee akin to the €52 million that Tottenham paid for fellow defender Cristian Romero in 2021 wouldn’t come as a shock.
(Alex Pantling – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Indeed, it is a significant advantage that both Percassi and his son, Luca, the chief executive, have their roots in football. Atalanta is increasingly led by individuals with a football background, diverging from roles often filled by Ivy League graduates. This is not a criticism of prestigious universities, but rather an acknowledgment that in a unique environment like Serie A, possessing a deep understanding of the Italian league is of greater value.
The current squad has a historic opportunity. They are both youthful and battle-tested. Eleven of the 17 players logging the most minutes this season are 25 years old or younger. Zaniolo and Lazar Samardzic, targeted by Inter and Milan in the summer prior, have become substitutes. Serie A’s top scorer, Mateo Retegui, a recent acquisition from Genoa, was brought in to fill the void left by Gianluca Scamacca, who suffered an ACL injury during pre-season, creating a significant gap in goals. The fact that the team has flourished without him, overcoming an early-season injury crisis where midfielders and wing-backs had to step up defensively, has further solidified their mental fortitude.
This harkens back to the match at Anfield last season where Sead Kolasinac’s absence raised considerable concern before kickoff. Atalanta won 3-0, with De Roon, one of Gasperini’s on-pitch leaders, adapting to a three-man defense once again. Lookman and De Ketelaere have emerged as uncontainable threats. “Football Q.I of CDK is beyond 200!” a banner at the Gewiss Stadium humorously states (yes, they meant ‘IQ’). In this calendar year alone, he has contributed to 36 goals and assists. The best player in Serie A for 2024 seems to be a toss-up between him and Lookman. Inter recently reminded the football world of their own strength with a commanding 6-0 victory over Lazio. Atalanta’s retort came in the Coppa Italia days later, as they steamrolled Cesena 6-1. This marks the third time this season they’ve scored six against an opponent. Following that, they secured a late 3-2 victory over Empoli, making it 11 consecutive league victories—with De Ketelaere netting twice and Lookman adding one.
Confidence is on the rise.
Shoud Atalanta claim the Serie A title, Bergamo would be the smallest city since inner-city Cagliari in 1970 and Vercelli in 1921 to host the Italian champions. In football terms, a close comparable is Sampdoria in 1991, whose Scudetto victory came after seven years of near successes, having won the Coppa Italia in 1985, 1988, and 1989, followed by the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990. Atalanta’s trajectory presents a similar narrative.
“I don’t want to draw parallels to previous Atalanta teams, as they are distinct,” Gasperini stated following the 3-1 win over Parma in November. “If we’re talking about the Gomez, Ilicic, Zapata, and (Luis) Muriel team, that was extraordinary. This team just won the Europa League. Concerning the Scudetto, I prefer not to speculate because it’s only the 13th round of the season; however, we aim to win every match possible. If we continue this way, then we’ll surely entertain such thoughts. We won’t hesitate, just as we did in the Europa League. We didn’t merely set out to win it.”
But Atalanta did. They followed their dreams and captivated ours.
Before taking a seat at Atalanta’s Christmas celebration, Percassi savored a sip from his glass and concluded his toast. “All that’s left to say is, ‘Forza Atalanta’.”
(Top image — design: Will Tullos, photo: Getty Images)
