Atalanta – Empoli

Atalanta will fight for victory over Empoli

Before the last round, three teams are at once in contention for a vacant place in the Europa League for next season. One of them is Atalanta. The Bergamasks, however, are in the worst position. On equal points with Fiorentina, the team are one point behind their rivals in head-to-head encounters, and the gap to Roma is one point. Formally, there is still a place in the Conference League, but whether it will be vacant or not for next season depends on the result of the same Roma in the final against Feyenoord. But that's not the point at the moment. Gian Piero Gasperini's side missed their chance to reach sixth place in the last round. "The Goddess faced Milan and lost 2-0 to the Scudetto challenger. Prior to that, the Bergamasks had beaten Spezia 1-3 without too much trouble. Empoli managed to secure their place in the competition long ago, so they played a friendly against the Ukraine at half-time. The team played with the reserve squad and lost by a score of 1-3. In the previous round, the Azzurri shared points with Salernitana. Given the Seahorses' dominance of the game, Empoli could be talking about luck. Overall, Aurelio Andreazzoli's side have failed in the second half. This year, the team have only scored one win! Even though it was over Napoli, the results of the following encounters prove its illogic. In the next round, Empoli lost 1:3 to Torino and then 4:2 to Inter. It is also worth noting that only Salernitana conceded more goals than Empoli. "The Azzurri have taken the ball out of the net 70 times (Seahorses 74). It is vital for Atalanta to get a win in the context of their fight for the European competition. The team will know the result of Roma, but Fiorentina will play Juventus in the parallel game. And even a draw will hardly satisfy the Bergamasks and it is unforgivable to share points with Empoli on the last matchday. In the first leg, Gasperini's side had no trouble beating the Azzurri 1-4. Given the poor form of Andreazzoli's charges and the importance of the encounter for Bergamasks, the same result should be repeated now. This is the last chance for Atalanta.