Atalanta emboldened their strong Serie A season so far with another win. They overcame Sassuolo scoring four goals in the first half, showing off a strong defensive performance and inspired attacking actions.
Sassuolo on their end found it hard to be released from the intense press applied by Atalanta and got stuck midway being unable to create opportunities in the opposition’s half.
This tactical analysis aims to allocate the main tactics used by both managers and show how Atalanta excelled Sassuolo.
Line-ups
Roberto De Zerbi lined Sassuolo up in a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 formation. Andrea Consigli was at the goalkeeping spot with a four-man defensive line containing Federico Peluso as the left-back, Gian Marco Ferrari and Vlad Chiricheș as the central duo, and Jeremy Toljan operating on the right. Pedro Obiang was positioned centrally and was responsible for dropping back in the defensive midfield frequently. Mehdi Bourabia and Alfred Duncan were supporting him centrally, whilst being flanked by Jeremie Boga and Domenico Berardi. Grégoire Defrel was at the tip of the attack.
Gian Piero Gasperini didn’t surprise anyone with the formations and relied on a 3-4-1-2/3-4-2-1. There was a surprise when it came to the starting XI though- Marco Sportiello started in goal instead of Pierluigi Gollini. The three-man backline saw Andrea Masiello, Berat Djimsiti and Rafael Tolói next to each other. In the midfield line were operating Robin Gosens, Mario Pašalić, Remo Freuler and Hans Hateboer. One of the best performers Alejandro Gómez was drifting around the box with Duván Zapata and Josip Iličić as offensive support.
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Artwork by @chapulana
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