With the draw against Sporting, the Nerazzurri have closed the Europa League case in style: not only did Gasperini’s men secure their grip on the arithmetic first place of Group D, but they also automatically qualified for the 2023-2024 UEFA Europa League round of 16 with still one match to spare.

As showed by Stats Perform’s Opta Facts, Atalanta have entered the list of the tournament’s “best 16 candidates” for the third time in their history after their previous features in the 1990/91 season (when the team faced Köln) and in the 2021/22 campaign (when they traded blows with Bayer Leverkusen). Plus, the Nerazzurri have extended their unbeaten run to 11 Group stage matches without knowing defeat on the grounds of their 7 wins and 4 draws.

After the goals bagged in the UEFA Conference League while donning West Ham’s shirt, Gianluca Scamacca celebrated his first-ever net in the UEFA Europa League. Moreover, with tonight’s goal, Gianluca became the current best scorer of the team, having favoured 7 goals (scoring 6 and providing 1 assist) so far this season in all competitions.

With 3 key passes provided since his Europa League debut for Atalanta in February 2022, Teun Koopmeiners became the team’s best “wingman” in the tournament.