Atalanta vs Sampdoria: Bergamasca to have problems in a home match

Atalanta have dropped out of the top 4 and risk missing the next UEFA Champions League. In the home game against Sampdoria, Bergamasca have only victory in mind. Will they be able to achieve it? Let's choose several options to bet on at once.

Last Thursday Gian Piero Gasperini's team defeated Greek Olympiacos 3-0 away and made it to the Europa League round of 16. What's next? It is unlikely the Black and Blues have enough resources to put up an equally effective fight on two fronts. So they will have to choose – either to try to win the UEFA Champions League next season or to throw all their efforts into the domestic league, where Atalanta has already fallen out of the top four. This is a crucial point, as missing the Champions League would immediately throw the club from Bergamo a dozen steps back. Last season, Roma coach Paulo Fonseca found himself in a similar situation. The Portuguese opted for the European Cup and lost, losing in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League and in the end sitting in seventh place in Serie A. What is happening to Roma this season is largely a consequence of that failure of Fonseca.

Atalanta will have no less difficulty than Roma to win the Europa League, given the presence of Barcelona and Sevilla, regular participants in the late stages of European competitions. And round of 16 will have the Goddess confronted with this season's most powerful German Bayer. Last round saw Atalanta lose to Fiorentina 0-1 in an away match in Serie A, extending their winless streak to five matches in a row. The prospect of a disappointing season for the Black and Blues is increasingly real.

As for choices, the Genoese have succeeded in the second half of the championship almost the best. The club swapped head coach Roberto D'Aversa for Marco Giampaolo, well-known to Sampdoria. He put 39-year-old Fabio Quagliarella in the squad immediately, and the veteran began to score in almost every game, the team steadily gaining points. The scheme, which had worked in Genoa for many years, was still effective.

In the previous matchday, Sampdoria outplayed Empoli 2-0 with a double by Quagliarella as early as in the 22nd minute of the first half. The gap from the relegation zone increased to four points. It is too early to celebrate, but the team's last matches were extremely encouraging.

• Atalanta: Aleksei Miranchuk, Jose Palomino, Duvan Zapata will not play. Josip Ilicic, Luis Muriel are questionable;
• Sampdoria: Manolo Gabbiadini won't play. Sebastian Giovinco, Kristoffer Askildsen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Maya Yoshida are questionable.

Atalanta defeated Sampdoria 3-1 in the first round match of the current championship.

The last four matches in Bergamo saw Sampdoria win over Atalanta three times.

Atalanta still can't count on main forward Duvan Zapata. The Colombian is still injured. Other attacking performers important for the Black and Blues, like Josip Ilicic and Luis Muriel, are also questionable; Russian Aleksei Miranchuk will not participate in the game. It looks like Sampdoria have a good chance to score again in their away game against Atalanta. The Genoese, who are dangerously close to the relegation zone, are desperate to earn points.

Prediction: Atalanta, left without all of their main forwards, having played in Greece three days ago, will experience serious problems in the match against Sampdoria.

• H2 (+1.25) for 1.87;
• 2X for 2.77;
• ITU1 (1.5) for 2.53.