When we look for the Italian team that surprised the most in 2024, there can only be one winner. Giancarlo Rinaldi claims that what Atalanta have achieved this year has been truly astonishing for a club of their size.
Last Christmas, it seemed like their magic was starting to fade. A mediocre start to the season with almost as many defeats as wins had left them outside the European places in a fairly miserable eighth place. But anyone who writes an epitaph on Gian Piero Gasperini’s miracle at Atalanta will have had to tear it up over the last 12 months.
There are other teams who have had great achievements – Bologna entering the Champions League last season, Fiorentina fighting at the top this season, but none really come close to the Bergamaschi. A European trophy, leading the race in Serie A and playing terrific football, they are undisputed the most surprising Italian team of the calendar year. Among the traditional giants, they have become one of the most talked about teams across the continent by people who know their football.
What’s been surprising about 2024 is that this has happened with their trainer’s latest reinvention of La Dea. He has gone through several distinct personnel cycles and continues to produce triumph after triumph. Players dismissed by other camps seem to become jewels in his expert hands. And he orchestrates their team play with such precision that he rarely delivers anything other than a symphony of skill. Even the loss of top players – like Teun Koopmeiners this year – has hardly seen them stutter.
Cynics might say this is no longer a surprise, but that ignores the history and context of what this camp has accomplished. They were good, of course, but never this good. Setting the tone on the home front and regularly facing the best of Europe’s elite is astonishing in every way. Just because they start making it commonplace doesn’t make it any less remarkable.
Let’s go back to the end of last season, when they pulled off one of the most complete European takedowns ever seen. Ademola Lookman ran riot against previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen to win continental silverware for the first time. The fact that they have already wiped the floor with Liverpool has only enhanced their profile and reputation.
We must not forget that Bergamo is not a big city. With a population of around 120,000, it is only the fourth largest city in the Lombardy region behind Milan, Brescia and even Monza. The fact that he is currently fighting for a title with the likes of Inter and Napoli says a lot about how well the club is managed. It’s a model for other aspirational outfits in Italy and beyond.
And to think that on the eve of this season, their plans were disrupted by Gianluca Scamacca injury. Other teams might have been a little sidetracked, but not the Nerazzurri. Mateo Retegui was pinched at Genoa and inserted as the perfect missing piece for a Swiss watch. If anything, their offense was even better without a man who seemed central to their goals.
Some provincial teams have enjoyed success over the years with a pragmatic approach of covering up in away games and being a little more expansive when at home – this is not the case with Atalanta. They try to play their way, regardless of the environment and the reputation of their opponents. This has earned them admirers across the football world.
Even by his own high standards, it has been a special year for the sometimes brooding Gasperini, where everything he touches seems to turn to gold. Front to back, his team performed brilliantly and attracted coveted looks from other clubs. Remember the Charles De Ketelaere who looked so desperate in the red and black of Milan? Gasp made him a player envied by countless others. The list of footballers exceeding even their wildest projections is endless.
In a sense, of course, their element of surprise is lost a little with each big match they deliver. Nonetheless, it will be a while before they can be considered one of the regular big hitters in Italy and Europe. In the meantime, we can only sit back and admire what one of the smallest teams in Serie A has achieved this year with a touch of disbelief and appreciation.
