Over the last few years, few have managed to match the sheer quality that Juventus have expressed in the Serie A, but this season, there has been a drastic change, with that change being Atalanta.
The team from Bergamo has climbed its way up the table, with their win on Thursday lifting them up to fifth in the table, just a point away from UEFA Champions League football. The 4-1 win against Bologna on Thursday broke one particular record, by being the first team to score at least four goals in the first 15 minutes of a Serie A match since 1932, when Juventus beat Roma 7-1.
Apart from this, Thursday's win also made them the top scorers in the whole league, as they have now scored 64 goals in 30 matches, thus averaging 2.1 goals every match. Whilst they have conceded 41 goals, which is an extremely poor record for a team that is chasing European football, especially considering that they conceded 39 goals in the whole of last season.
This highlights how much Gasperini has transformed Atalanta this season, with them becoming one of the most exciting teams to watch in Europe, with their thrilling attacking displays always catching the eye. More often than not, their matches are filled with goals at both ends, yet their attacking trio of captain Alejandro Gomez, Josip Ilicic, and the Colombian who is chasing the Golden Boot, Duvan Zapata, they have consistently managed to grab several points.
To put this into perspective, Duvan Zapata scored just 11 goals in 31 league matches last season, yet now he has 20 goals in 30 matches, Ilicic scored 11 goals in 31 league appearances as well, yet this season he has managed to match that feat in just 24 matches, and lastly, Gomez scored six goals in 33 league matches last season, yet this season he has done so in just 26 matches.
To make matters even better for Atalanta, they have also managed to progress to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, and have since drawn 3-3 away to Fiorentina in the first leg, and are one of the dark horses to push on and win the whole competition, having thumped the favourites of the competition, Juventus, 3-0 in the previous round.
Apart from the surprise win that they inflicted on Juventus, Atalanta's best game this season was earlier on against Inter, as they came back from 1-0 down and thrashed the team from Milan 4-1.
However, their fluid attacking mentality has left them quite open at the back on several occasions, with Atalanta registering just six clean sheets in the Serie A, highlighting their fragility at the back. However, most of the time, Zapata and co. have been there to save them.
Juventus may be the dominant force when it comes to winning the league in Serie A, but there is a new team that is set to take the league by storm, becoming more fluid than ever in attack.
