Atalanta lost the key battle for the Champions League! Miranchuk was released too late
Anatoly Romanov March 3, 2024, 22:08 Moscow time
Bologna continues to surprise Italy and secures its place in the top 4.
Alexei Miranchuk’s Atalanta lost the most important battle against Bologna in the duel between rivals for the ticket to the Champions League. Before this matchday, the Bergamascos were two points behind Thiago Motta’s team, in fourth place. Now it’s five.
After a great failure in the content and, in the second case, in the result of the away games at San Siro against Milan (1-1) and Inter (0-4), Gian Piero Gasperini decided to put Miranchuk on the bench, and in pairs with De Ketelare he put Lookman on the attack line. The Nigerian was active from the first minutes, showing that the Bergamasco coach had good faith in him. At the beginning, Atalanta managed good quick attacks with an emphasis on the left edge and the mid-band, where Lookman and Ruggeri were on fire. And De Ketelare could have scored a quick goal. The Belgian shot over the goal from a lethal position.
But then, during a certain period of the match, Bologna was able to put out Atalanta’s fire. He even created a scoring chance: he almost scored after a set piece. In the end, at half-time the statistical advantage of the home team was minimal: 6:5 in shots (on goal – 2:2), and in possession of the ball even 50% to 50%. However, Atalanta still scored in the first half and it was Lookman who did it. De Ketelare developed a fast attack with a pass on the right to Zappacosta, and after the shot the Nigerian was lucky with a rebound from the defender. The ball flew towards Lookman, who brought the happy Atalanta fans to their feet. It is curious that at that time the Bergamascos were ten men in the field, since Kolasinac needed the help of doctors.
The match against Inter was a big disappointment for Miranchuk
Miranchuk accidentally set up Atalanta. And then the phenomenal Inter simply trampled him.
But the start of the second half was left in the hands of Bologna. The visitors should have scored from another dangerous corner when Calafiori headed in from the line and goalkeeper Carnesecchi made an excellent save. Thiago Motta’s team came back in the 57th minute. The attack in the center ended with a foul by Kopmeiners on Saelemaekers. The referee gave an absolutely fair penalty, which Zirkzee converted. The first fall was quickly followed by a second. Bologna took advantage of Atalanta’s gaps and Ferguson coolly shot from the rebound into touch!
When the score reached 1:2, Gasperini sent Miranchuk to save the game during the last half hour. Alexey took the position of the proper informant. The Russian revived Atalanta’s attack: he participated in several sharp attacks, shot dangerously from outside the area, but the ball, after bouncing off a defender, went into the corner. The Bergamascos began to actively throw crosses into the Bologna area, and the tall center forward Scamacca also appeared on the field. But Thiago Motta’s team held on and did a good job destroying the work of others. No decision helped Atalanta escape defeat.
Miranchuk’s statistics in the match against Bologna: 18 touches of the ball (including one in another’s area), one blocked shot, eight accurate passes out of thirteen (with zero passes under attack), one dribble, one ball interception, seven turnovers of possession, two won a single battle of two and earned a foul. Alexey received an average rating of 6.7 points on the Sofascore website. The Russian entered the match quite well, however, he could not “make a difference.”
