As part of the umpteenth stepping stone in their demanding season finale, the Nerazzurri will be off to the “Via del Mare” stadium in Lecce to play the Salento team in their contention for a Champions League spot.
When did Lookman score in the reverse game?
Played back on December 30, Atalanta’s last game of 2023 saw none other than Lecce cross the Gewiss Stadium’s gates for the MD38 lunch match: with the Nerazzurri welcoming the Apulian Giallororssi to shrug off the Bologna outing, Lecce landed in Bergamo to build a nest egg in their race to avoid relegation. Off to a bubbly start, Atalanta created plenty of chances in the first half of the game; with Scamacca hitting the post and Baschirotto’s last-ditch clearance on Koopmeiners’ left-footed shot on an open goal as the main turning points. Despite being denied once again when Pašalić banger from a mesmerizing angle ended up smacking the crossbar, the Nerazzurri’s goal was there up for grabs: 34 later to be exact, it was Lookman who “picked the plum” by unleashing a right-footed scorcher from the edge of the box after steering left to right, flaunting a footwork of his. Despite Atalanta’s best attempts at sealing the deal ASAP first with Scamacca and then with Lookman; Lecce didn’t go down swinging either and tried to go all out for the equaliser instead: after Krstović and Piccoli both finished wide, the Salento siege forced Carnesecchi to perform an unworldly save on Oudin. As the triple whistle chimed through the Gewiss Stadium, Lookman’s 58th-minute goal proved itself enough as Atalanta saw 2023 off with a win in front of their home crowd.
Who did NOT score in our 7-2 away win back in the 2019/20 season?
In the 2019/20 Lecce-Atalanta, the last league game before halting the league due to the pandemic, the Nerazzurri truly took the motto “If you’ve got it, flaunt it” to the next level and started flexing ever since the opening minutes. Off to a levelled and lively start, the first half was but an appetizer to what was to come: while Atalanta took the lead through a Donati own goal and then doubled with Zapata, Lecce still pitched their say when Saponara pulled one back and Donati wrote off his previous OG with the temporary equaliser. Unfazed by the hosts’ second wind, Gasperini’s men kicked things up a notch and slipped the five: after getting back on top through an Iličić stunner, they tied up all loose ends with Zapata, who bagged in two more for good measure, and single goals by Muriel and Malinovskyi to top it all off. Despite providing two assists, Mario Pašalić didn’t make it to the final scoresheet.
Did we ever lose to Lecce in May?
With the fourth-ever matchup between the two teams taking place on Sunday, the scales are favourably tipped in the Nerazzurri’s favour. The first round, dating to the 1930/31 cadet championship, saw Atalanta make the most of the field factor with their 5-0 home win. Fast forward to 1977 and the second bout, oddly enough held in Bergamo once again, proclaimed Atalanta victorious with a 3-1 stamp on their scoreboard courtesy of Augusto Scala’s brace and Pietro Fanna’s single stunt. With the third and last clash, played at the Via del Mare stadium this time in the 1979/80 Serie B season, culminating in a goalless draw, Atalanta have never known defeat to Lecce in May.
