Winning at Anfield is a project for most, but not for Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini. Liverpool humiliated by a score of 0-3 at home on an outstanding European night?Unimaginable.
Imagine West Ham dismantling Inter Milan through multiple targets at San Siro, a fitting outcome given the similarities in salary outlays between the two, with Beneamata and Irons shelling out around $125 million each season. Meanwhile, Liverpool are spending $50 million more, Atalanta $75 million less. Gasperini’s team, by football standards, is lean.
Despite squandering the second leg, Atalanta pulled off a 3-1 aggregate win to qualify for a UEFA semi-final for the first time this century, raising an additional $3 million in prize money. Not bad for a club that has not reached the quarter-finals of a UEFA tournament since Aldo Cantarutti’s brace against Sporting Lisbon in the 1987-88 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. This goes back to when Atalanta was in Serie B, Italy’s second division. 36 years later, Gianluca Scamacca’s brace at Anfield gave La Dea fans an explanation for why to dream when they take on Marseille, who beat Benfica in the semi-finals in May.
This may be a season to savour for Serie A purists. AS Roma, who beat AC Milan 3-1 on aggregate, staged a repeat of last season’s semi-final against new Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. Since Lazio were impressed by Ronaldo’s Inter in 1997, two Italian teams met in the UEL final.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 11: Atalanta’s Gianluca Scamacca scores his second UEFA goal. . . [ ] The first leg of the 2023/24 Europa League quarter-final between Liverpool FC and Atalanta at Anfield on 11 April 2024 in Liverpool. England. (Photo via Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside Getty Images)
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) will be expanded from 32 to 36 groups in 2024, with the two most sensible leagues from 2023-24 getting greater representation. With Liverpool, West Ham, Arsenal and Manchester City knocked out of Europe this week, and with Roma, Fiorentina and Atalanta on the rise, Serie A climbed five places in the UCL (one more than the usual four) after surpassing the UEFA Association coefficient.
You read that right. Despite the monetary strength of the Premier League, Serie A finished in first place. England will probably win the bronze medal.
The coefficient averages are calculated by adding up the total cumulative emissions of all participants in a league at each UEFA club festival and dividing them by the number of competitors. Two issues are awarded for a win and one for a draw, and bonus issues are earned. in the organizational phases and in the knockout phases. Interestingly, the 3 UEFA festivals get an equivalent weight.
Italy’s lead was insurmountable. While Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Leverkusen are still alive, Germany is battling England for second place. The Premier League will have to rely on their sole representative, Aston Villa, to lift the UEFA Conference League (UECL) trophy and have any hope of overtaking the Bundesliga.
If either Roma or Atalanta win the UEL final and, more importantly, knock out the top five from Serie A, Italy will finish in sixth place in the UCL. This is because holders of the UEL name get automatic entry, as well as additional equipment from the two top-ranked associations: Serie A and the Bundesliga. This translates to a larger percentage of the $2. 19 billion of the Champions League pie distributed to cash-strapped Italian clubs, with more than $20 million awarded for qualification alone. , temporarily increasing with $2. 3 million for each win in the revised organization stage.
BERGAMO, ITALY – APRIL 18: Liverpool FC head coach Jurgen Klopp shakes hands with Gian Piero. . . [ ] Gasperini, head coach of Atalanta, before kick-off of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League quarter-final match between Atalanta and Liverpool FC at the Stadio di Bergamo on April 18, 2024 in Bergamo, Italy (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Given the current Serie A standings, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Bologna FC and Roma will all qualify for the 2024-25 UCL, while sixth-placed Atalanta will want to close the four-point gap to Roma or potentially beat them (or Bayer) by winning the UEL final in Dublin.
The concept of 10 Serie A groups in Europe is attractive. Seventh-placed (Lazio) and eighth-placed Napoli could sign for Fiorentina in the UEL if the Viola manage to win the UECL this season. Turin, ninth, would then fill the vacant position in the UECL. Fantacalcium?
Orobici and La Magica’s momentum is ramping up, but Marseille and Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen stand in the way of a dream situation for Calcio enthusiasts that was denied when Juventus lost the 2022-23 semi-final to Sevilla. Win the trophy.
Since taking over in 2016, Gasperini has led Atalanta through the club’s most productive era in its 116-year history by qualifying for Europe in each and every season. Like Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at Liverpool, Gasperini has led his team through three cycles of regeneration. However, in the quarter-finals, 99% felt that Gasperini had a 1% chance. Sometimes all you need is self-confidence: Atalanta outgrew their monetary clout and Anfield watched in horror.
The arrival of billionaire landowners across the continent has shifted the balance of power over the past 20 years. But all that glitters is gold. This season, the homeless of UEL have found form where it matters most.
Despite all the bickering and splitting between Italian clubs at home, at least collectively, Serie A is one of the most sensible in Europe.