After the European debut against Raków, Atalanta will be back to the drawing board, answering the Serie A’s calling: on Sunday, Gasperini’s men will host Cagliari, a team still looking for the first Serie A win, at the Gewiss stadium.
Sunday’s Atalanta-Cagliari won’t be the first one played on 24/9, which was the outcome of our previous encounter?
Atalanta and Cagliari last crossed path on 24/9 on matchday 4 of the 2008/09 Serie A season at the then Atleti Azzurri d’Italia stadium: that year, it was a mid-week fixture played on a Wednesday. The Nerazzurri imposed themselves 1-0 at the end of a straining and hard-fought match courtesy of Floccari, who finished with granitic composure the mano-a-mano against the opposing keeper unleashed by Cigarini’s chip pass. The other previous matchup disputed on 24/9 was played in Cagliari during the 1972/73 season and culminated with a 0-0 draw, honours even on matchday 1.
How many appearances has Rossi made against Cagliari?
After rising through the ranks of Atalanta’s Academy, Francesco Rossi roamed through Italy on various loan spells (starting with Lumezzane and closing in Teramo, with Cuneo, Pavia, Roma and Prato in between) before returning back to base in the summer of 2016. With 5 Serie A caps to his name thus far, our keeper made his debut on 20/05/2018 in the outing against Cagliari played at the then Unipol Domus stadium. Curiously enough, Francesco also made his last appearance against Cagliari, subbing in Pašalić after the red card shown to Musso. It was also the last time Atalanta and Cagliari crossed swords in all competitions before Sunday’s clash.
When did a draw last occur in the Serie A?
The last matchup between Atalanta and Cagliari to have culminated in a draw dates back to the 20th of January 2013. After a 30-minute delay due to the snow, the ball eventually rolled in Bergamo: while the Rossoblù took the lead with Canini’s own goal, “Atty” Guglielmo Stendardo marked the Orobic draw. From that day onwards, Atalanta and Cagliari have crossed paths 16 times in the Serie A without ever drawing again: the balance tells 9 wins for Atalanta against 7 victories for the Casteddu.
