MILAN — Atalanta’s aspirations for silverware seem to be dwindling with each passing match. The team’s latest setback came with a goalless draw at home against Cagliari, who are fighting to avoid relegation, following a controversial defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League earlier in the week. Despite this, Atalanta remains in third place in Serie A, still five points adrift of league leaders Napoli, who also managed to secure a draw against Lazio, with a score of 2-2 in their latest game. This string of results opens the door for Inter Milan to potentially take the top spot in Serie A with a victory against their fierce rivals Juventus on Sunday.
The recent performances for Atalanta have not gone as planned, with just one win in their last six matches across all competitions. They are set to face Brugge again on Tuesday for the second leg of the knockout playoff round. On the other hand, Cagliari has managed to pull five points clear of the relegation zone, which provides some hope for their campaign. Atalanta has been plagued by injury issues, leading coach Gian Piero Gasperini to rest several key players between their Champions League fixtures. The match against Cagliari showcased strong defensive efforts from both sides, with only a single shot on target registered in the first half.
Atalanta believed they had found the breakthrough in the second half when Marco Brescianini scored, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul by Stefan Posch on Cagliari’s goalkeeper, Elia Caprile. Despite finishing the game with renewed vigor, Atalanta faced difficulties as Caprile executed several crucial saves to keep the match level.
Meanwhile, Napoli was eager to return to winning form after drawing twice against Roma and Udinese. The situation appeared to improve for them as they took a 2-1 lead in the 64th minute, capitalizing on a humorous own goal. A cross from Matteo Politano led to Giacomo Raspadori’s shot inadvertently finding the net via deflections off Lazio defender Mario Gila and teammate Adam Marusic. Lazio almost equalized swiftly with a stunning overhead kick from Mattia Zaccagni; however, it was ruled offside. The visitors managed to snatch a point just three minutes before full time when Boulaye Dia linked up with Zaccagni and fired a shot into the far bottom corner.
Lazio initially claimed the lead in the sixth minute with a dynamic strike from Gustav Isaksen from 30 yards, but Raspadori leveled the score just seven minutes later. This was a notable comeback for Isaksen since he hadn’t scored since providing a late winner in the earlier match against Napoli back in December.
On another front, Santiago Giménez is showing to be a valuable investment for AC Milan, who paid Feyenoord 30 million euros ($31 million) for him. The Mexican forward contributed significantly to Milan’s 1-0 victory over Hellas Verona by scoring his second goal in consecutive league appearances and his first at the iconic San Siro. Alex Jiménez played a pivotal role in the play leading to the goal by delivering a pass to Rafael Leão, who skillfully lobbed the ball for Giménez to head in during the 75th minute.
Milan currently sits in seventh place, trailing fourth-place by five points, with an important Champions League match against Feyenoord coming up on Tuesday, following a narrow defeat in the first leg. As for Verona, they find themselves perilously close to the relegation zone, needing to garner points to secure their position in the top flight.
