When Atalanta beat Lecce 7-2 last weekend, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was somewhat of a freak result.
The standard in Europe’s top five leagues is so high nowadays that even the weakest teams are rarely on the receiving end of a high-scoring drubbing.
However, Atalanta have recently gained a reputation as one of the most exciting teams to watch, and scoring seven goals in a single game isn’t exactly out of the ordinary for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.
The Bergamo outfit have now scored 70 Serie A goals this season – 10 more than any other club in the Italian top-flight – and have hit seven goals on three separate occasions in 2019/20.
Their 7-1 win over Udinese in October established them as one of the most dangerous attacking threats in Europe, before they repeated their heroics in January – thrashing Torino by the same scoreline.
Atalanta’s most recent seven-goal haul means they are now the highest scorers away from home across Europe’s top five leagues. La Dea have netted 37 goals in 13 away games this season – averaging just under three goals per game on their travels.
As if that wasn’t enough, Atalanta also hammered AC Milan 5-0, before beating Parma 5-0 just two weeks later.
So, who is scoring all of these goals?
Slovenian forward Josip Ilicic is the club’s top scorer this season with 17 goals in all competitions, while Colombian Luis Muriel has 14 goals to his name.
Duvan Zapata – who netted a hat-trick in the 7-2 win over Lecce – has notched up 11 goals in just 15 league appearances this term, despite missing much of the season through injury.
Elsewhere, Robin Gosens has bagged eight goals from left wing-back, while midfielders Mario Pasalic and Ruslan Malinovskyi have chipped in on a regular basis throughout the campaign.
But manager Gasperini deserves most of the credit. The 4-3-3 formation employed by the 62-year-old allows the team to take a cavalier approach, unleashing their lethal attacking talents.
Sure, they may concede more goals than they’d like. But Gasperini sets up his team with the sole aim of outscoring their opponents, and that’s what makes Atalanta so fun to watch.
Atalanta are also on the verge of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals in their maiden season in the competition. Of course, they thrashed Valencia 4-1 in the first leg, so they’ll be confident of reaching the last eight.
Atalanta were the top scorers in Serie A last season with 77 goals, but they’re on course to eclipse last term’s total by some distance this time around.
Once thing’s for sure: As long as Gasperini is at the helm, Atalanta will continue to score goals at a ludicrous rate.
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