Atalanta-Sporting, Europa League round of 16: probable lineups and TV times

Bergamo, 13 March 2024 – Una Europe League field for Serie A to conquer fifth place Champions League in the European ranking. For this reason Atalanta-Sporting Lisbon is of significant importance in the Italian journey together with Rome e Milan, against Brighton and Slavia Prague, without forgetting the Fiorentina in the Conference League. At the Gewiss Stadium it will be Atalanta's turn to carry forward the Nerazzurri colors and also those of the Italian championship against the Portuguese, fresh from a one-to-one draw in the first leg (Paulinho and Scamacca). A few too many regrets for the Goddess who hit the woodwork three times and missed a few too many goals, but nothing is compromised and based on the tenor of the performance in Lisbon, Gasperini's team has all it takes to get through to the round. It will be played on Thursday 14 March at 21pm. Chess suspected of starting in a trident with koopmeiners e Lookman. In Sporting bogeyman gyokeres.

Probable lineups

Gasperini ready to rely on his best men in the proven 3-4-2-1. Atalanta are coming from a difficult moment in the league, but the draw in Turin may have given new life to the race for fourth place. First, however, we need to think about the Europa League and the second leg of the round of 3 against Sporting. There will then be room for Scalvini, Djimsiti and Kolasinac in the defensive trio, in midfield Holm and Ruggeri should be the wing men, Ederson and De Roon the centre-backs. Space in front of the starters with Koopmeiners and Lookman behind Scamacca, who scored in the first leg. In Amorim's Sporting Lisbon 4-3-XNUMX with Diomande, Coates and Quaresma in defence, Catamo, Morita, the former Lecce player Hjulmand and Reis in midfield, Edwards, Gyokeres and Trincao in the attacking trident.

Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Scalvini, Djimsiti, Kolasinac; Holm, De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri; Koopmeiners, Lookman; Scamacca. All. Gasperini.

Sporting Lisbon (3-4-3): Israel; Diomande, Coates, Quaresma; Catamo, Morita, Hjulmand, Reis; Edwards, Gyokeres, Trincao. All. Amorim.

Qualification criteria

Without the away goals rule, abolished a few years ago, i qualification criteria they are much simpler. With a draw in the first leg, Atalanta is forced to beat Sporting in one way or another in regulation, while in the event of a draw, with any result, it would go to extra time. A victory for the Portuguese would instead lead to elimination. In case of a draw even in extra time, penalties will be taken.

Previous

There are eight previous matches between the two teams with a record of three Atalanta victories, two defeats and three draws. The first matches date back to the first round of the 63/64 Cup Winners' Cup with the Dea winning the first leg 2-0 and losing the second leg 3-1. A play-off was therefore necessary which would Sporting won 3-1 with Mascarenhas, a brace, and Lucio, for Atalanta goal by Nova. Twenty-four years later the Cup Winners' Cup again, this time it reached the quarterfinals Atalanta thanks to the two-nil in the first leg (Nicolini e Cantarutti) and the one by one return (Houtman e Cantarutti). In this Europa League the two teams also met in the group stage with Atalanta's 1-2 success in Lisbon and the 1-1 draw in Bergamo.

Gasp's words

Gian Piero Gasperini he had to manage a very complicated calendar period with many close matches and all of them at a high level. The Nerazzurri coach's press conference on the eve of the match starts from here: "We are playing many expensive and close matches - his analysis - Tomorrow we could play even 120 minutes and it is an aspect to take into consideration. Details? There are always details to work on and we face the fourth match against Sporting. Attention and concentration will be important because mistakes can be decisive." A bit of regret for the first leg in which Atalanta could he have made hay on the farm with a victory? Absolutely not: “No regrets, tomorrow will be a new game and we'll start all over again - again Gasperini - In the last three matches there have been favorable moments for both teams, but tomorrow there will be a definitive result and we must make the home factor count as well as the desire to move forward". Sporting first in Portugal, but already in the first leg Atalanta showed that they could put them in difficulty: "They are having a positive season and have excellent individual and team values, but we want to move forward and we must make the home stadium an important factor because for the city of Bergamo moving forward would be a great achievement." Atalanta which continues to chase a Champions League qualification and its rivals are Bologna and Roma, but the Dea has returned from a draw against Juve and earned a point on the rossoblù: “What did Turin tell us? That we are in good shape and it was a match that could be useful to us if we were to meet Juventus in the Italian Cup final."

Next to Gasperini Gianluca was also at the press conference Chess, expected to start: “Playing at home must give us something more - the attacker's words - Our fans will be the twelfth man and we will try to start strong to immediately put them in difficulty. The goal is to win and go through." Favorable tradition for Scamacca against the Portuguese: already two goals scored. “The goals? I do everything I can to help my teammates and it doesn't change between the championship or the Europa League, but I think that by playing in this way the opportunities will come."

Where to see it on TV

The return match of the Europa League round of 16 between Atalanta e Sporting Lisbon will be staged on Thursday 14 March at 21pm at the Gewiss Stadium and will be broadcast live on Dazn, but also on paid channels Sky, in particular Sky Sport Calcio (202 satellite), Sky Sport 4K (213) and Sky Sport (254).

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