Gasperini can smile. Because Atalanta risked having a decimated defense in the match against Genoa, but that won’t be the case. Because both Hien and Kossounou have been called up for today, in an away match that has suddenly become very important. Seven points in six games, two wins, three defeats and a draw, it is the last match before the international break which will probably bring back several players – Djimsiti above all – and which can be another good training ground for the new players, Zaniolo first of all.
A situation that is very similar to that of last season. Even there Gasperini had had to adapt Marten De Roon several times to a much more defensive role, moving from midfield to rearguard, as also happened in the final against Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin. The feeling is that the Dutchman is indispensable in midfield in this formation, because there are no players with similar characteristics who can take his place, apart from Sulemana not yet used as a starter.
So it will be a limited emergency, in a department where there will be neither Toloi nor Djimsiti anyway. Then Scalvini and Ruggeri, even if the latter has a decidedly different role than the others, being a left-winger.