Atalanta are targeting a seventh successive league victory, and their ninth win from their last 11 across all competitions (D1, L1), when they host Fiorentina on Sunday in what will be the 289th and final Serie A match for referee Daniele Orsato. No matter what happens here, it’s been a fantastic campaign for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side who have qualified to play in the Champions League next season, and will also contest the UEFA Super Cup in August after winning their first-ever European title when easily overcoming German ‘Invincibles’ Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin.
The only blot on their end of season copy book was a 1-0 Coppa Italia Final defeat to Juventus in mid-May, the third time since 2019 that they have ended up as the runners-up in the competition. Atalanta could take some sort of revenge for this season’s cup final loss though, as victory over La Viola will see them leapfrog the Old Lady and finish in third place.
With four points separating them from Lazio in seventh, and the same gap to Torino in ninth, Fiorentina will end this campaign in eighth which means the Europa Conference League for the third successive season next year. Vincenzo Italiano’s side will be hoping that it’s a case of third time lucky in that competition as they were beaten 1-0 by Olympiacos in Wednesday night’s final, just 12 months after losing 2-1 to West Ham at the same stage.
A Fiorentina side surely in low spirits will travel north looking to end the season with a win, as well as avoiding a third defeat in a row at the Gewiss Stadium and their second in six weeks, as it was only in late April when they were thrashed 4-1 here in the Coppa Italia semi-final. Sadly, this fixture will also evoke memories of their director Joe Barone, who was taken ill prior to the originally scheduled game in March and subsequently passed away.
Players to watch: Ademola Lookman followed up his hat-trick in the Europa League final with Atalanta’s second goal on Sunday and he’ll be targeting another fruitful clash against Fiorentina, after scoring three and assisting one across his four previous H2Hs. Cristiano Biraghi set-up La Viola’s only goal against Atalanta in their semi-final defeat and the left-back has contributed a strike and an assist across the last two league games.
Hot stat: Referee Daniele Orsato has gone 56 Serie A games without giving a straight red card.
