Why Atalanta Should Not Be Underestimated in the Champions League Hunt

The 2019/20 season has been a peculiar one. When we look back at this campaign in years and decades to come, the same repetitive words will tumble out of our mouths.

'Oh, that was the coronavirus season.'

It's all so 'unprecedented'. Eurgh. You cannot hide from it though - it's been a bonkers 12 months in and out of the football world. So, are we ready for one final twist in this extraordinary tale?

The epilogue of the 2019/20 campaign comes in the shape of the Champions League. Manipulated from its usual two-leg, home and away format, we are now embracing an international tournament-style straight shootout from the quarter-final onwards.

Manchester City, Barcelona, Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atalanta make up the final eight, and everyone is laying down their bets on who will lift the all-important trophy on 23 August.

One of the lesser-mentioned sides in the fight is Atalanta. The Champions League debutants have enjoyed the ultimate rollercoaster ride in Europe's biggest competition, and they're not too keen on getting off just yet.

From losing their opening three group stage matches, to scraping through to the knockout rounds, and then inducing an 8-4 hammering over Valencia to reach the quarter finals, it's been nothing short of mental.

But why should we even give these imposters the time of day when considering the potential winners, given it'll take an extraordinary sequence of events for them to get anywhere near the podium?

Well, maybe that's exactly why we should be bigging them up. This is no ordinary season, where logic and routine have been replaced by chaos and ground-breaking firsts.

Narrative looms large in football, like the shadow of the grim reaper, allowing familiar faces to vanquish former foes, or giving the kiss of death to whomever dares laugh in his face.

And given everything that has happened in Italy this year, the poetic justice would be for the original European epicentre of the deadly virus to rise from its darkest hour, and stand tall and proud in front of the watching eyes of the football world.

The Atalanta players have been forced to live through some torturous and terrifying days in their beloved city, where football took such a back seat, that even the team's ultras declared the season should have been cancelled - despite their record-breaking achievements on the field.

Such has been the despair and agony suffered in Bergamo, that la Dea now stands as a symbol of hope, courage, and resilience within the city. The players and supporters are more connected than any other club and its fanbase, giving the players that extra strength and motivation to bring home success.

It's not only the narrative which points in Atalanta's favour, however. Gian Piero Gasperini's team may have suffered a slight dip in form towards the end of the season, but barring those minor disappointments, they have been unequivocally brilliant.

The Italian side ended the campaign as Serie A's top scorers with 98 goals, scoring seven in a single game on three separate occasions. Their all or nothing, no surrender approach to matches has seen them light up European football, and with an attacking trident of Josip Ilicic, Alejandro Gomez and Duvan Zapata, anything is possible.

La Dea's task will be made slightly harder by Ilicic's absence from the rest of the tournament, but Gasperini will have plenty of men queueing up to affect the game in their own unique way. Atalanta's sensational brand of relentless, attacking football stems from their revolutionary coach, and his consistent and endless search for perfection has seen them become the best-drilled team in the sport.

They are able to run their superb plays with such ease and natural instinct, that opponents simply cannot live with the fluid movement and swarming system, as they suffocate and stifle their lifeless adversaries.

It certainly is a gripping watch.

And the ideal opponent for a team as efficient and hungry as Atalanta, would be a group of players who rely heavily on one or two superstars coming up with the goods, without boasting any sign of a team ethic or ability to cope with proper game plans.

Step forward, PSG!

For most onlookers, this is already done and dusted. The firepower that the French champions possess, compared with a team which shares a similar wage budget to that of a mid-table Championship side, reeks of a whitewash.

But within Bergamo, they'll be licking their lips at the prospect of demonstrating the value of teamwork and togetherness over individualism to Les Parisiens, and if la Dea start the game fast, it could become a nightmare tie for Thomas Tuchel.

Not to mention, PSG are yet to overcome their own inferiority complex, having crumbled at the first sign of danger in the latter stages of the Champions League in recent years. So, to face off against a team with zero expectations, throwing all the pressure onto their own shoulders, could be a unique challenge in itself for the heavy favourites.

There's also the minor issue that the French giants have played only two competitive matches in the past five months, and with Kylian Mbappé struggling through injury and Angel Di Maria suspended, Tuchel's squad has seen better days.

In this new format, with only one fixture played at a neutral venue, it really is anyone's game. Atalanta will fancy their chances in this do or die scenario, rather than facing the intimidating prospect of travelling to a packed Parc des Princes or Camp Nou. The elite clubs will know they must finish the job on the night too, and there can be no room for an off-day for their superstars.

I smell an upset.

Should Atalanta fail to progress beyond a determined and European success-starved PSG, then they can still return to Bergamo with their heads held high, knowing they are the pride of an entire city. Should they do the unthinkable, and progress to the semi-final - or further - then they will be the envy and shock of the whole of Europe.

Those in Italy will be the least surprised of us all, however. This is not mission impossible. This is merely unprecedented territory. And that is nothing new for this valiant nation.