Atalanta v Rakow is a match for the first day of the Europa League group stage and is played on Thursday at 21:00: TV, line-ups, predictions.
Atalanta will be back in Europe after a year without cups: it is not the Champions League that Atalanta will be playing in this time, but the Europa League, which they won after finishing fifth in the last Serie A. La Dea last played a European match in the spring of 2022, when they were eliminated by Leipzig in the quarter-finals (the Nerazzurri were relegated from the Champions League in December, finishing third in the group).
The group in which Gian Piero Gasperini’s men have been drawn could hold some pitfalls. It will be important to finish first, so as to avoid dangerous play-offs with those teams that will drop out of the Champions League after the group stage. Atalanta is not the favourite for first place: according to the bookmakers, the Portuguese Sporting CP have a better chance, while the other two teams should not be a problem for the Bergamasks. We are talking about Rakow, reigning Polish champions, and the Austrians of Sturm Graz, two opponents within reach of Dea. The opener will be against the Poles, who last August played for a Champions League pass against the Danes of Copenhagen: a double challenge more hard-fought than expected, decided by the success of the Superligaen champions in the first leg (0-1 and 1-1). In Ekstraklasa after six matches they have collected 13 points, one less than their big rival, Legia Warsaw.
Polish champions for Dea
Atalanta, on the other hand, have so far alternated between a win and a loss: good against Sassuolo and Monza, bad in Frosinone and Florence, where they were beaten by a narrow margin.
Cebula del Rakow
Inexplicable the attitude shown last Sunday in Florence against the Viola, a match in which, after having found the goal of the advantage in the middle of the first half, almost completely in the Nerazzurri’s mark, they ended up leaving the initiative to the men of Italiano, who eventually won 3-2. Gasperini will have to understand the reasons for these amnesias, which had also occurred three weeks earlier in Ciociaria. In addition to having to digest a bitter defeat against a direct competitor, Atalanta had to deal with the injury of their starting striker Scamacca, who will be out for at least a month. It is likely, therefore, that against Rakow the orobic attack will be on the shoulders of Muriel, supported by Lookman, who returned to goal against Fiorentina. In the three-quarter, Pasalic should be preferred to De Ketelaere. The Polish side’s formation is almost a mirror image of Atalanta’s: coach Dawid Szwarga like Gasperini, uses a three-man defence, and in Bergamo he will be relying heavily on Nowak, the team’s top scorer (3 goals) along with Zwolinski.
The Prediction
We bet on Dea’s victory, even if so far it has only been seen in flashes. Gasperini’s team should still react after the defeat in Florence, but it is unlikely that they will also keep their goal unbroken against the proud Poles.
Atalanta v Rakow
- ATALANTA (3-5-1-1): Carnesecchi; Toloi, Scalvini, Kolasinac; Holm, De Roon, Ederson, Bakker; Pasalic; Lookman, Muriel.
- RAKOW (3-4-3): V. Kovacevic; Racovitan, A. Kovacevic, Rundic; Tudor, Papanikolau, Koghergin; Nowak, Piasecki, Cebula.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
