Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s Champions League clash between Atalanta BC and Slavia Prague, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Without success in the Champions League proper since 2007, Slavia Prague travel to Stadio di Bergamo on Wednesday to face Atalanta BC in matchday three, aiming to end their 18-year winless run.
La Dea recovered from a 4-0 hammering at the home of European champions Paris Saint-Germain to defeat Club Brugge, and the Bergamaschi aim for consecutive wins to climb the table.
Match preview
Atalanta survived a scare in the second matchday of this season’s Champions League, as they mounted a second-half fightback to beat Club Brugge 2-1.
Having conceded four in a chastening 4-0 defeat by PSG in Paris, Christos Tzolis’s 38th-minute goal put the Belgians ahead on the night; however, the Bergamaschi found solutions after the break to finally get the better of the Bruges-based club after two failed attempts in the playoff round last season.
La Dea’s 2-1 win sent them 22nd in the league phase, which is enough for a place in the knockout phase playoffs, but the tightness of the early standings means Ivan Juric‘s side are just one point behind Manchester City in eighth, the last automatic spot for a round of 16 involvement.
Given how crucial goal difference might be in deciding the fates of some clubs, the Italian outfit will hope to find their shooting boots this week to erase or come close to erasing the damage caused by PSG on matchday one.
As a result, the home support will demand a positive result for their team, who have suffered just one loss in their past eight matches of the group or league phase, winning four and drawing three.
That demand is doubly understood due to Slavia Prague’s inability to secure encouraging results in this competition since the team’s debut victory over FCSB in 2007.
Since that 2-1 triumph 18 years ago, the Red and Whites have not added another, instead drawing five and losing eight, with their most recent disappointment coming in Italy, where they were beaten 3-0 by last season’s runners-up, Inter Milan.
Losing to the Nerazzurri marked the Czech champions’ eighth defeat in 12 matches against Italian teams in European competition, and they have also gone winless in nine of their last 10 visits to such clubs.
Therefore, Jindrich Trpisovsky’s men face an uphill task travelling to Bergamo this week, as they aim to break a streak of not scoring in four consecutive away games in European competition.
Having failed to hold onto a 2-0 advantage against Bodo/Glimt on matchday one, the heavy defeat by Inter was an undeniable setback last time out.
While some members of the travelling squad might hope for a positive result to extend Atalanta’s winless run — currently at two successive Serie A draws — the Czech club’s nearly two-decade history and poor form against Italian sides accentuate their uphill battle.
Atalanta BC Champions League form:
Atalanta BC form (all competitions):
Slavia Prague Champions League form:
Slavia Prague form (all competitions):
Team News
Gianluca Scamacca was back in the Atalanta squad for the first time since August in Sunday’s goalless draw with Lazio, though it remains to be seen if the Italian striker will start on Wednesday.
While no one sustained an apparent injury against the capital club, La Dea may have to navigate matchday three without Raoul Bellanova, Odilon Kossounou, Saed Kolasinac and Mitchel Bakker.
Mario Pasalic scored his eighth goal for the Bergamaschi in the victory over Club Brugge on matchday two, and the Croatian plans to add to his total against the Czech visitors.
Slavia Prague could be without as many as five players, with Dominik Javorcek, Jindrich Stanek, David Doudera, Igoh Ogbu and Tomas Holes potentially absent for their visit to Bergamo; Jan Boril and Murphy Dorley will be assessed, though both are expected to be fit.
Vasil Kusej and Tomas Chory have scored four and three league goals respectively for Slaviste this season, accounting for 31.8% of their league strikes, and both forwards aim to carry that form into Europe.
Youssoupha Mbodji was the surprise scorer of a brace in the 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt on the first matchday, but the left-back is unlikely to start in the midweek fixture.
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Carnesecchi; Hien, Djimsiti, Ahanor; Zappacosta, Ederson, Pasalic, Bernasconi; Sulemana, Samardzic; Lookman
Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Markovic; Vlcek, Zima, Chaloupek, Boril; Dorley, Zafeiris; Schranz, Provod, Kusej; Chory
We say: Atalanta BC 2-0 Slavia Prague
While Atalanta are favourites for maximum points, La Dea have scored more than two goals on only two occasions this season in nine matches across all competitions.
The Bergamaschi are expected to win on Wednesday, thus extending Slavia Prague’s poor away record in Europe, but Juric’s team may not score as many as their fans desire.
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