Atalanta overwhelms Verona 6-1

A clear victory, never in question. Atalanta overwhelms Hellas Verona, finishing 6-1 in Bergamo thanks to goals from Retegui (double), Lookman (double), De Roon and De Ketelaere, the goal scored by Sarr in the first half was useless for the Scaligeri. Important success for the Bergamo players, momentarily third in the standings equal on points with Udinese and Juventus. Fifth defeat in the last six for the yellow-blues, immediate redemption will be needed against Lecce. Not even enough time to pass the classic study phase before Atalanta managed to channel the match on the right tracks.

In the 6th minute De Roon, following Lookman’s suggestion, opened the scoring by passing Montipò, three minutes later Mateo Retegui found the second goal, the ninth in nine games played in Serie A, thanks to a left-footed shot which came after a rebound from the guest defense. De Ketelaere, after just 14 minutes, invented a shot at the far post which practically sank a Verona team in total confusion. The fourth and fifth goals came in the 29th and 34th minutes, with Lookman practically unleashed: first a solitary action, then an opportunistic goal.

The Sarr’s goal did not serve to make the evening in Verona any less bitter: in the second half Lookman hit the crossbar again, in the 13th minute Retegui scored the tenth goal thanks to an assist from Samardzic, who entered in the second half. Not even the three substitutions at the start of the second half changed the fate of an already scripted match, Atalanta are the ones celebrating, with their third consecutive victory in the league after the 0-0 draw against Celtic. In the next round there will be the match against Monza, while Verona will face Lecce, a match to be won at all costs to erase a truly heavy knockout.

“We could have done it one with Celtic would have been better. The performance, however, was the same, there was a bit of regret for how Wednesday went, however we must acknowledge that we are well and it is a good moment”. Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini to the microphones of Sky Sport.

“Ballon d’Or? It’s a huge success just to go there, I’m sorry Atalanta isn’t there, it’s a result we’ve all achieved. One of our limits is that there are too many interruptions in our championship there are too many whistles, even too many simulations by the players, things that don’t exist in Europe. I think it’s our biggest limitation that concerns us coaches, in my opinion they do the biggest damage,” he added.

The scoreboard

ATALANTA (3-4-3): Carnesecchi 6; Djimsiti 6.5, Hien 6.5, Kolasinac 6.5 (32’st Palestra sv); Zappacosta 7 (11’st Bellanova 6), De Roon 7, Ederson 7 (11’st Pasalic 6), Ruggeri 6.5; De Keteleare 7.5, Retegui 8 (17’st Zaniolo 6), Lookman 8.5 (11’st Samardzic 6.5). On the bench: Rui Patricio, Rossi, Toloi, Godfrey, Sulemana, Cuadrado, Comi, Steffanoni. Coach: Gasperini 8

HELLAS VERONA (3-4-2-1): Montipo’ 5; Magnani 4, Coppola 4.5 (1’st Daniliuc 6), Ghilardi 4; Tchatchoua 4, Belahyane 4.5, Serdar 4 (22’st Suslov 6), Bradaric 4.5 (1’st Lazovic 6); Kastanos 4 (1’st Dani Silva 6), Livramento 4 (34’st Alidou sv); Sarr 5.5. On the bench: Perilli, Magro, Faraoni, Lambourde, Tengstedt, Okou, Sishuba, Mosquera, Ajayi, Cisse. Coach: Zanetti 4

REFEREE: Feliciani di Teramo 6

RARELY: 5’pt De Roon, 9’pt, 13’pt Retegui, 14’pt De Ketelaere, 29’pt, 34’pt Lookman, 42’pt Sarr NOTE: pitch in good condition. Spectators: 23,015. Booked: Brada