Atalanta B.C.
Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is an Italian football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11.
The club is nicknamed La Dea, the Nerazzurri and the Orobici. Founded in 1907 by Swiss students in the gym of the liceo classico, Atalanta play in blue-and-black vertically striped shirts, black shorts and black socks. The club stadium is the 21,300 seat Gewiss Stadium. In Italy, Atalanta is sometimes called Regina delle provinciali to mark the fact that the club is by far the most consistent among Italian clubs not based in a regional capital, having played 58 seasons in Serie A, 28 seasons in Serie B and only one in Serie C.
The club won the Coppa Italia in 1963 and reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1988, when it was still competing in Serie B. This is still the best ever performance by a non-first division club in a major UEFA competition. Atalanta also participated in four seasons of the UEFA Europa League, reaching the quarter-finals in the 1990–91 season.
The club qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, reaching the competition for the first time in their history, as they finished 3rd in the 2018–19 Serie A season. This represented the highest finish in the league in the club's history.
History
The club was founded in 1907 by some Swiss students and their coach of PE in the gym of the Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi, Bergamo. A football club had existed in Bergamo since 1903. Founded by Swiss immigrants, it was known as Foot Ball Club Bergamo. The rival Atalanta club grew out of a division between different sporting societies in the town. The name is taken from the female athlete of Greek mythology. The FIGC was unimpressed with the new club and did not officially recognize them until 1914. The current club is the result of a merger between Atalanta and a third team called Bergamasca. The first, black and white coloured and the second wearing a blue and white shirt, merged in 1920 as Atalanta Bergamasca di Ginnastica e Scherma 1907. The team moved to the site of the current ground, on the Viale Giulio Cesare, in 1928.Atalanta joined the Italian league in 1929. The club first reached Serie A in 1937, but was relegated immediately. The club returned in 1940 and remained in Serie A until 1959; after a single season in Serie B, the club was promoted and lasted a further decade in Serie A before relegation in 1973 led to an uncertain period of promotion and relegation between the two levels.
The club achieved its highest position at the time in 1948, finishing in fifth place, a feat only bettered in 2017. In 1981, the club fell into Serie C1, a blow which revitalised the club. The team returned to Serie B the next season and made it back to Serie A in 1984. The club's form in Serie A remained uncertain, as it was relegated in 1987, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2010. After a change of ownership, in 2011, Atalanta immediately came back to Serie A, where it has been ever since.
In terms of titles the club has won little, their sole major silverware is the 1963 Coppa Italia. The club has had a few good runs in Europe, on several occasions being eliminated by the eventual winners.
Welsh club Merthyr Tydfil caused an upset in the 1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Atalanta 2–1 in the first leg of their first round match at Penydarren Park. After winning the second leg 2–0 in Bergamo, Atalanta went on to reach the semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Mechelen of Belgium, but in the process becoming one of only two teams in the competition's history to reach the penultimate round while playing their football outside of the national top flight league. Oddly enough, the only other team to do so being Merthyr Tydfil's countrymen at Cardiff City.
Atalanta reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in the 1990–91 season, losing to local rivals Internazionale, who went on to beat another Italian side, Roma, in the final to win the tournament. The club never played European club competitions between 1991 and 2017, although turned down the opportunity to play in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2001 after finishing in seventh place in Serie A, regional rivals of Brescia played the tournament instead, losing only in the final against French side Paris Saint-Germain.
In recent years, the club was relegated after the 2002–03, 2004–05 and 2009–10 seasons, but gained the promotion to Serie A after only one season every time.
In 2011–12, Atalanta was docked six points in the league table due to the outcome of an Italian football scandal. Nevertheless, the club managed to secure another year in Serie A by gaining 52 points in 38 games. The following year, for the same reasons, the club was docked two points in the league but avoided relegation reaching the 15th spot in the final table. In the 2013–14, Atalanta enjoyed another strong campaign, finishing in 11th place.
Atalanta struggled during the 2014–15 season despite some impressive results. At the beginning of the season, manager Stefano Colantuono committed his future to the club. On 4 March 2015, however, he was sacked after a poor run of form which left Atalanta only three points above the relegation zone. He was replaced by Edoardo Reja, who secured the club's status in Serie A for 2015–16, where Atalanta finished 13th.
In 2016–17, Atalanta stuttered at the beginning of the season and new coach Gian Piero Gasperini was on the verge of dismissal, but with an amazing run of positive results the team secured an impressive 4th-placed finish with 72 points, thus celebrating its return to Europe after 26 years, qualifying for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, in which they reached the round of 32, losing 3–4 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund.
In 2017–18, Atalanta placed 7th in the league, earning them a berth for the chance to qualify for 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage. However, they were defeated by Danish side FC København in the final of qualification.
In 2018–19, Atalanta struggled at the beginning of the season, getting only 1 win in their first 8 matches. A strong second half to the season including a 13 match unbeaten run to end the season meant Atalanta finished 3rd in the league, qualifying to the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in their history. Atalanta also made the finals of the 2018–19 Coppa Italia, knocking out defending champions Juventus 3-0 in the Quarter Finals. In a tightly contested final, Atalanta lost 2–0 to Lazio.
In 2019–20, Atalanta began their Champions League campaign with a 4–0 loss away to Dinamo Zagreb, followed by a 2–1 loss at home to Shakhtar Donetsk and a 5–1 loss away to Manchester City. Atalanta got their first ever Champions League point with a 1–1 draw at home to Manchester City. After a 3–0 away win against Shakhtar on the final match day, Atalanta qualified for the Champions League round of 16 for the first time in their history, and became the second time a club has advanced to the round of 16 after losing its opening three matches, after Newcastle United in 2002–03. Atalanta ended the decade with an 5–0 win against Milan, inflicting their worst loss in 21 years. In the January transfer window, Atalanta sold Dejan Kulusevski to Juventus for a club record €44 million including bonuses after an impressive loan spell at Parma. On 19 February, Atalanta played their first ever Champions League knockout match against Valencia in the round of 16, winning the first leg 4–1. Due to UEFA Champions League regulations and an impending renovation of their home venue, Atalanta had to play their group stage home games at Stadio San Siro, Milan. The team later advanced to the quarter finals after a 4–3 away win against Valencia in the second leg, on 10 March, and were drawn against PSG in the quarter finals. Atalanta won 9 Serie A games in a row for the first time in their club's history after a 2-0 win against Sampdoria on 8 July. On 12 July, Zapata scored his 15th goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against Juventus, making it the first time since Juventus in 1952 that a Serie A club had 3 players with 15 or more goals in a season After a 1–0 win against Bologna on 21 July, Atalanta mathematically secured a top 4 finish, qualifying for the Champions League for the second consecutive season.
Players
Current squad
Other players under contract
.Out on loan
. Players in bold will officially left the team at the end of the season.Below listed loans expiration has been postponed to 31 August 2020.
Youth team
Retired numbers
12 – Dedication to fans, in particularly for Pisani Curve ones14 – Federico Pisani, Forward – posthumous honour.
80 – :it:Elio Corbani|Elio Corbani, radio journalist.
Noted players
- See also: :Category:Atalanta B.C. players
Youth system
The first person who was committed to set up the Atalanta youth teams was Giuseppe Ciatto. Every organisational aspect was dealt with and resolved by him, and he also took care to train the various teams. In 1949 Atalanta won the Campionato Ragazzi.
In the late 1950s former Atalanta player Luigi Tentorio felt the need to start investing more systematically in youth: he decided to create a real youth sector, with its own independent structure from the first team. The youth sector was entrusted to Giuseppe Brolis, who created a partnership with various clubs in the Veneto and Friuli regions, building a network of scouts and young coaches.
A crucial step in the history of the Bergamo youth sector took place in the early 1990s when the president Antonio Percassi implemented a new investment policy, especially at the youth level. He managed to convince Fermo Favini to leave Como and entrusted him with the responsibility of the youth sector.
The Atalanta youth system not only continued to increase the production of players for the first team, but began to win several honours in the most important national leagues. From 1991 to 2014, the various youth teams have won 17 national titles.
Apart from successes at youth level, the Atalanta youth system is also one of the most highly regarded in Europe: according to a ranking by the study centre in Coverciano, Atalanta have the top youth system in Italy and the sixth in Europe, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona and three French teams. The parameters used were the amount of first division players produced by the club. In the 2007–08 season, 22 players from Atalanta's youth played in Serie A, 32 in Serie B and 3 abroad.
In 2014, a global study of the "CIES Football Observatory", placed the Atalanta youth system eighth place in the world, with 25 former youth players who play in the top 5 European leagues.
Presidential history
Atalanta have had several presidents over the course of their history. Some of them have been the main shareholder of the club. The longest-serving chairman is Ivan Ruggeri, who was relieved of his duties after he suffered a stroke in January 2008, being replaced by his son Alessandrowho was named chairman of Atalanta in September 2008. Alessandro's father was unable to manage the team due to the consequences of the stroke.
In June 2010, after another relegation to Serie B, Alessandro Ruggeri sold his share of the club to Antonio Percassi, who became the new chairman of Atalanta.
Managerial historyAtalanta have had many managers and head coaches throughout their history, below is a chronological list of them from when Serie A was changed into a league format, from 1929–30 onwards.
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