TFT Issue 3248!

Today’s featured game is the UEFA Champions League encounter between Atalanta Bergamo and AFC Ajax Amsterdam.

Initially, my thoughts on this one was to back goals. It’s the logical call, really. Both are very proud, attack-minded teams with far greater attackers than defences. However, the Dutch team’s inability to hurt a van Dijk and Alisson-less Liverpool side makes me wonder if they can hurt Atalanta Bergamo here. I’ve said it for a while now, and I’ll say it again – Dutch football definitely isn’t what it was. I tend to find that, although they don’t lack in attacking intent or gumption, they do tend to lack in quality. 

Quality is something that their Italian counterparts do not lack. I still have concerns over a slow defence playing a high defensive line, but with Atalanta Bergamo’s ability to keep and use the ball intelligently in midfield, I just can’t doubt them for the majority of the time. It takes a lot of tenacity and stamina to cope with the overloading that they’re capable of, and I’m really not convinced that AFC Ajax Amsterdam are good enough to do it. 

Furthermore, I think it’s poignant to note that classy Slovenian playmaker Ilicic is back in town. As far as I am concerned, he’s the best player at the club, and with him, Gomez, and now Miranchuk in the equation, Atalanta Bergamo simply cannot be contained by other teams. They can be outscored, in the right circumstances, but not contained. Those three can pick holes in any defence in Europe, and with Muriel, Zapata, and now big Lammers as options through the middle (who knows tonight’s opponents well), I have to believe that Atalanta Bergamo have enough to outscore AFC Ajax Amsterdam here.

The thing is with the home team is that it’s not just about finding an attacking combination that works, although that obviously helps. It’s about finding a balance throughout their squad that works, the right attitudes, and the right level of fitness, all of which Gasperini has. This is not a team that is going to go away anytime soon because they’ve been intelligently assembled, and they work bloody hard. They’re very entertaining to watch, and they’re very good at taking their chances. I think they’ll wreak havoc here, honestly.

AFC Ajax Amsterdam do love challenges like this, it’s true. Their disdain for teams ‘parking the bus’ is well-known, and they will not back down from this challenge. They’ve got some tremendously skilful individuals themselves in attack, none moreso than Serbian playmaker Tadic, who is a real class act. I genuinely still can’t get over the fact that Southampton sold him for the meagre price that they did. However, AFC Ajax Amsterdam lack finished articles in their squad, for the most part, and that’s what is going to cause them issues against a team that plays like they’ve been doing it for twenty years now.

Therefore, I expect the Italians to outscore the Dutch heavyweights, and odds of 4/5 on that outcome suit me just fine.