Atalanta have been a rising power in Serie A over the past few years since their promotion from Serie B in 2011. After starting as a bottom-half side, La Dea have slowly developed to a regular fixture in European football under head coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
Along the way, Atalanta won the Europa League in 2023-24 – their first major trophy since 1963 – beating the previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen in the final, and finished third in the following season. However, Gasperini left the team last season, and La Dea barely qualified for Europe, finishing seventh in the Italian top-flight standings.
This offseason, Atalanta hired Maurizio Sarri as their new head coach, who is one of the most experienced and innovative managers in Italy. La Dea have high expectations for the 67-year-old, but the preseason Serie A 2026 odds don’t necessarily agree.
Today, SBOTOP breaks down Atalanta as currently constructed and how they’ll look under Sarri.
Atalanta couldn’t escape Gasperini’s shadow
Atalanta struggled to find a fitting replacement for Gian Piero Gasperini, who left for AS Roma last season, after nine years in charge. Ivan Juric was the first man tasked with the job, but was fired in November after a seven-match winless run and with La Dea sitting in the bottom half of the standings at the time.
After Juric left, Raffaele Palladino was parachuted in and steered Atalanta to a seventh-place finish and the Coppa Italia semi-finals – where they ironically lost to Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio via penalties. Under Palladino, La Dea also reached the Champions League Round of 16, where they lost to Bayern Munich.
Despite Palladino doing okay, Atalanta let him go last June and named Sarri as his replacement. Before taking the Atalanta job, Sarri spent four of the past five seasons in charge of Lazio, and he also had stints at Napoli, Chelsea, and Juventus. He won the Europa League with the Blues in 2019 and the Scudetto with I Bianconeri the following year.
Perhaps the reason Atalanta went with Sarri is that his tactics are similar to Gasperini’s. “Sarri-ball” is known for using fast short passes, quick forward movements, and a high press to win possession. However, the said tactic also uses a regista or a deep-lying playmaker, which Atalanta don’t necessarily have at the moment.
Injuries and dressing room turmoil didn’t help Atalanta’s cause
Atalanta didn’t have much luck against the injury bug last season due to their grueling schedule. The first injury casualty they had was Mitchel Bakker, who tore his ACL during training in July 2025. Gianluca Scamacca, Isak Hien, Nicola Zalewski, Charles De Ketelaere, Raoul Bellanova, Marten De Roon, Daniel Maldini, Giorgio Scalvini, Kamaldeen Sulemana, and Berat Djimsiti were not spared, either.
La Dea were also affected by the Africa Cup of Nations, as Odilon Kossounou and El Bilal Toure were called up to represent Ivory Coast, who reached the quarter-finals before eventually losing 3-2 to fourth-placed Egypt.
And then there was Ademola Lookman, their Europa League final hero, as the Nigerian forward wanted to leave Bergamo early last season. He accused Atalanta of reneging on their promise to give him a new, lucrative deal, and he also had a falling-out with then-head coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Lookman was frozen out of the rotation and waited until the winter transfer window to leave for Atletico Madrid via a €35 million transfer fee. In return, La Dea acquired Giacomo Raspadori for approximately €22 million.
Not to be overlooked is the departure of Mateo Retegui, who was the team’s top threat in the final third in 2024-25, winning the Capocannoniere for scoring 25 goals in 36 Serie A matches. The Argentine striker has been with Al-Qadsiah ever since.
Who needs to step up for Atalanta this upcoming season?
Atalanta have to pick up the scoring to outdo their seventh-place finish last term, and they have the requisite firepower to score more than 51 league goals. Nikola Krstovic and Gianluca Scamacca led La Dea in scoring with 10 league goals apiece, with the former also being the joint-top playmaker with five assists, alongside Charles De Ketelaere.
Speaking of De Ketelaere, his stock has been boosted by his superb World Cup run with Belgium this offseason. The 25-year-old notched three goals and one assist while leading the Red Devils to the quarter-finals, where they eventually lost 2-1 to champions Spain.
We’re also looking at Nicola Zalewski and Giorgio Scalvini to continue to improve. Zalewski had two league goals and four assists last term, while Scalvini is one of the most coveted young defenders in the market today, per the Serie A 2026 news.
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