Serie A

With a 3-1 victory over Sassuolo today, Atalanta B.C. has confirmed a third place finish in Serie A and direct qualification to next season’s UEFA Champions League group stage. In the 112-year history of the Italian club from Bergamo, Lombardy, this is a first on both accounts. 

61-year-old manager Gian Piero Gasperini — with a fraction of the wage bill of the clubs that finished around them — created an attacking juggernaut that scored a league-best 77 goals (yes, seven more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus), led by Duván Zapata, Josip Ilicic and Alejandro “Papu” Gómez. 

Cristiano Ronaldo received his award for being named Serie A Player of the Year on Sunday, one of three trophies lifted by Juventus on a celebratory day in Turin. 

Ronaldo was given the Serie A Player of the Year trophy at halftime of a match against Atalanta, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Ronaldo tallied 21 goals and eight assists in 31 Serie A appearances in his first season in Italy after moving from Spain. Real Madrid certainly missed him, scoring exactly 31 fewer goals in 2018-19, the amount Ronaldo accounted for in last season’s LaLiga campaign. 

You really gotta feel for Robin Gosens after the magnificent Joaquin Correa goal vs Atalanta on Wednesday.

In the Coppa Italia final at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Atalanta was pushing hard for a late equalizer, trailing by a goal to Lazio.

Atalanta pushed everyone up for a free kick; when it was cleared, Gosens sprinted 90 yards back to his own goal line.

Then Correa’s shot ricocheted off Gosens’ crotch and into the back of the net to clinch Lazio’s 2-0 win.

Torino stayed in the mix for European football next season — perhaps even the Champions League — with a 3-2 victory over Sassuolo in Serie A action on Sunday, and the entire match was really dictated by Torino striker Andrea Belotti.

The 25-year-old Italian missed a penalty in the 17th minute, had an incredible bicycle kick saved in the 47th, equalized 1-1 for Torino in the 56th and then converted the club’s match-winner in the 82nd minute with ANOTHER bicycle kick.

Look how similar these two efforts are.

Wherever he goes, hardware follows. Now you can add scudetto to the list of Cristiano Ronaldo trophies.

A rampaging run from Ronaldo forced an own goal by Fiorentina’s Germán Pezzella to lift Juventus to a 2-1 victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. The three points put the Old Lady 20 points ahead of second-place Napoli. With five matches left (six for Napoli), Juventus cannot be caught and thus claimed its remarkable eighth straight Serie A title.

It was quite the evening for Serie A’s Atalanta as it hosted visitors Empoli at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo. The sixth place side has been impressive in recent seasons, putting on good performances in the Europa League and doing well in Serie A.

The odds of Atalanta beating Empoli were very high as the visitors sat 18th, in the relegation zone. What looked like quite a routine match was completely turned on its head. No, Empoli did not beat Atalanta with a smash and grab, but Atalanta did not beat Empoli either.