Atalanta reached the Champions League quarter-finals in their first season in the competition, knocking out Valencia after a 4-3 show. Both teams lacked concentration and allowed some defensive errors, which allowed them to scored that many goals.
It was clearly difficult for Atalanta to break through the well-structured Valencia. Both teams made some changes in efforts to bring more explosiveness to their performance and that immediately resulted in more intriguing battle, although all goals were conceded in a chaotic manner.
This tactical analysis aims to explore the teams tactics and use analysis to see how Atalanta ended up in the next round of the Champions League.
Lineups
Albert Celades set Valencia up in a 4-4-2 formation, although he was forced to make some in-game changes later on. Jasper Cillessen covered the goal supported by José Luis Gayà, Mouctar Diakhaby, Francis Coquelin (replacing the suspended Gabriel Paulista), and Daniel Wass. In midfield, the manager relied on Carlos Soler, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Dani Parejo, and the best performer for the team that night, Ferrán Torres. The attacking duo contained Rodrigo and Kévin Gameiro.
Gian Piero Gasperini didn’t surprise anyone by using his favoured 3-4-1-2. He picked Marco Sportiello for the goalkeeping spot, with a three-man defensive line of José Luis Palomino, Mattia Caldara, and Berat Djimsiti. No surprises in the midfield formed by Robin Gosens, Remo Freuler, Marten de Roon, and Hans Hateboer. The coach though opted for quite a different attacking line, placing Mario Pašalić right behind Alejandro Gómez and Josip Iličić, leaving Duván Zapata on the bench.
