Palladinos Atalanta rising as Serie A frontrunners Inter arrive
Atalanta are showing signs of recovery before hosting Serie A table toppers Inter Milan on Sunday evening with manager Raffaele Palladino spearheading the renewed effort for the Bergamo outfit.
Following Palladinos appointment in place of Ivan Juric last month Atalanta have found their rhythm again evident in their handling of Eintracht Frankfurt and Chelsea during Champions League action.
Atalanta occupy fifth spot in the Champions League tied on points with wealthy Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City and they are now climbing the Serie A standings once more.
A dramatic late victory away to Genoa at the weekend returned Atalanta to the upper reaches of Italys premier division just three points shy of the European qualification positions.
"That was not our finest display but securing the win today was the key thing" Palladino commented post match against Genoa.
"Picking up those three points was vital to maintain our momentum and push us towards the higher end of the standings."
The Sunday encounter in Bergamo marks the initial bout of three games versus teams vying for Champions League places.
Fourth placed Roma who lead Atalanta by eight points will head northwards early in the new year prior to the nearby trip to Bologna currently holding the Conference League berth.
Under Palladino Atalanta have triumphed in six of eight outings across all competitions and he appears a more suitable successor to Gian Piero Gasperini than Juric proved to be.
That said Palladino must cope without vital forward Ademola Lookman and centre back Odilon Kossounou who are on international duty with Nigeria and Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations.
"We continue to climb a peak that seemed out of reach just a month back" Palladino noted.
"We should savour this period as three major challenges lie ahead and we can approach them positively."
Inter hold a one point advantage over city neighbours AC Milan who welcome Verona while title holders Napoli trail by another point in third before their challenging away game at Jamie Vardys Cremonese.
Yet Inter recently journeyed to Saudi Arabia for an unsuccessful bid in the Italian Super Cup a competition claimed by Napoli which has congested their calendar leaving them along with Milan Napoli and Bologna possessing an extra fixture compared to Roma and fifth placed Juventus.
The opening two weeks of January feature midweek league rounds for the Super Cup participants followed by the subsequent fortnight bringing the crucial concluding matches of the Champions Leagues enlarged group stage.
Inter manager Cristian Chivu is missing Ange-Yoan Bonny due to a knee problem sustained in practice with the French player sidelined alongside Denzel Dumfries Francesco Acerbi and Hakan Calhanoglu.
Player to spotlight Daniele De Rossi
De Rossi is set for a heartfelt homecoming at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday evening as his Genoa side visits the eternal city aiming to recover from recent narrow losses to Inter and Atalanta.
The legendary Roma figure and World Cup winning midfielder guided his lifelong team to the 2024 Europa League semi finals yet was dismissed after a sluggish beginning in the prior campaign.
He lost his job after a stalemate with Genoa in September of the previous year igniting angry demonstrations from Roma supporters and he can expect a warm reception from the local crowd.
Genoa hold a two point cushion above relegation danger while Roma trail Inter by three points despite having completed an additional match.
Essential figures
4 The points gap between table leaders Inter and fifth placed Juventus.
3 Atalanta have secured one additional Serie A victory under Palladino compared to the two achieved with Ivan Juric.
Schedule times GMT
Saturday
Parma v Fiorentina 1130 Lecce v Como Torino v Cagliari 1400 Udinese v Lazio 1700 Pisa v Juventus 1945
Sunday
AC Milan v Verona 1130 Cremonese v Napoli 1400 Bologna v Sassuolo 1700 Atalanta v Inter 1945
Monday
Roma v Genoa 1945