Long-time Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini returned to Bergamo this Saturday with his new club, AS Roma. However, in sporting terms, the evening turned out to be a disappointing affair.
Something very special was on the agenda this Serie A Saturday evening: former Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who led Bergamo between 2016 and 2025 to numerous Champions League appearances and the Europa League title in 2024, returned “home” for the first time.
More precisely: the 67-year-old made his mark with his new Roma team on this New Year’s match day in the Italian top flight – and saw his protégés get straight down to business from the start. This included chances for Dybala (1st minute) and Ferguson, who was thwarted by Atalanta keeper Carnesecchi (7th minute).
Scalvini’s goal hits Roma where it hurts
But in the 12th minute, the tables turned – and it was 1-0 for the Bergamo side thanks to Scalvini, who benefited from a mistake by AS keeper Svilar after a corner kick. All he had to do was push the ball over the goal line from close range.
It was a goal with consequences, as the visitors from the “Eternal City” seemed inhibited from then on and were hardly able to create anything up front. Dybala and Soulé lacked ideas, and target player Ferguson was cleanly marked out of the game by the home side’s defense.
And Atalanta’s attack? Here, a visibly surprised Zalewski missed the chance to make it 2-0 against his former club (20′), before the goal was scored by an unmarked Scamacca with a header (28′) – only to be disallowed again after a VAR check lasting several minutes, much to Bergamo’s incomprehension (34′). So it remained 1-0 at half-time for the home side from Lombardy, who only had to survive one more chance from Soulé (39′) to get there.
Too little, too harmless: Giallorossi stutter
Anyone who had been dreaming of a comeback from Roma’s point of view was to be bitterly disappointed. Even in the second half, against a Bergamo side focused solely on defending and managing their narrow lead, the capital club stood out mainly for their acute lack of ideas, apart from plenty of midfield skirmishes. Jokers such as striker Dovbyk and El Shaarawy were also unable to change anything, while Dybala, who played the whole game, remained completely below his potential.
Only Ferguson (50′) had a chance to make it 1-1, but he was thwarted by the alert Carnesecchi. Meanwhile, teammate Soulé had been too stubborn on his way to a possible equalizer (52′). In the end, apart from a narrowly missed Mancini pass from Dybala (90+2), there was no final offensive from Roma. Thus, the return to his old stomping ground for former Bergamo coach Gasperini fell through – and the Giallorossi slipped to fifth place at the same time.
