A blockbuster GOTM: Samardžić takes November!
Chosen by Nerazzurri fans through our social media
A veritable landslide: this was the verdict after two days of voting that crowned Lazar Samardžić as November’s Goal of the Month king. For Laki, the contest played out like a scripted blockbuster — a true “chronicle of a victory foretold”.
After going all "lights, camera,action" with a commanding veni, vidi, vici in Group A, racking up 88% of the total votes, the Serbian midfielder delivered another masterclass in the final, where his fulmen in clausula at the Vélodrome rolled the closing credits on November’s GOTM! Hot on Samardžić’s heels, claiming the silver screen spot on the podium, was Gianluca Scamacca with his acrobatic strike. From one Roman striker to another, Giulio Misitano, a standout in the group stage showdown against Laki, shared the bronze with Odilon Kossounou — a double feature that kept fans on the edge of their seats.
Before we dive into the highlights, here’s a look at how the votes shaped up in the group stage and who came out on top in the final (exit polls are available below)
GROUP A
- Lazar Samardžić, Olympique de Marseille 0-1 Atalanta, UEFA Champions League League Phase MD4 (88%);
- Giulio Misitano, Atalanta U23s 3-1 Siracusa, 2025/26 Serie C Sky Wifi MD16 (7%);
- Nicolò Baldo, Cesena 3-3 Atalanta Primavera, 2025/26 Primavera 1 Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti MD12 (5%);
GROUP B
- Gianluca Scamacca, Napoli 3-1 Atalanta, 2025/26 Serie A Enilive MD12 (51%);
- Odilon Kossounou, Atalanta 2-0 Fiorentina, 2025/26 Serie A Enilive MD13 (46%);
- Dominic Vavassori, Audace Cerignola 2-4 Atalanta U23s, 2025/26 Serie C Sky Wifi MD12 (3%);
FINAL RESULTS
Runner-up: Gianluca Scamacca, Napoli 3-1 Atalanta, 2025/26 Serie A Enilive MD12 (25%);
Winner: Lazar Samardžić, Olympique de Marseille 0-1 Atalanta, UEFA Champions League League Phase MD4 (75%)
Up next: head over to our Instagram Reels to relive the top four goals from November.
GROUP A, Runner-up: Giulio Misitano, Atalanta U23s 3-1 Siracusa, 2025/26 Serie C Sky Wifi MD16 (7%)
First of the notable absentees is coach Bocchetti’s number nine, Giulio Misitano! Runner-up in a group dominated by the “unstoppable” Lazar Samardžić, the 2005-born striker still made his mark with a brilliant solo against Siracusa. A coast-to-coast sprint from the Roman forward, picking up the ball in his own half and racing towards the opposing goal, leaving Cancellieri in his wake before slotting past Farroni to seal the comeback and wrap up the scoring against the Aretuse
GROUP B, Runner-up: Odilon Kossounou, Atalanta 2-0 Fiorentina, 2025/26 Serie A Enilive MD13 (46%)
Other side of the bracket and here comes the second notable absentee from the final. Moving up from the U23s to the First Team, it’s Odillon Kossounou who joins Misitano on the other fold of the third step on the podium thanks to a goal as important as it was special: the Ivorian defender’s first ever in a Nerazzurri shirt. A strike that combined pinpoint accuracy, power, and significance—especially for the moment it came. After a fierce start by the visiting side, it was Kossounou’s right foot that tipped the scales in Atalanta’s favor.
Minute 40: after once again troubling the Gigliati backline, De Ketelaere laid the ball off at the edge of the area to Kossounou, who, already twice dangerous from distance, lined up the target and unleashed a shot from the three-quarter line. Third time’s the charm: the ball arcs perfectly, uncatchable, and nestles under the top corner to De Gea’s right. Up until that point, the keeper had kept Fiorentina in the game, but there was nothing he could do against the Ivorian’s finish.
FINAL RESULTS
Runner-up: Gianluca Scamacca, Napoli 3-1 Atalanta, 2025/26 Serie A Enilive MD12 (25%)
After a nail-biting battle for selection with teammate Odilon Kossounou, Gianluca Scamacca faced another “mission impossible”: trying to unseat Lazar Samardžić in Wednesday’s standoff. A daunting task, yet one that earned him a prestigious second place.
The goal bore the hallmark of a move entirely in his wheelhouse, underlining why the Goal of the Month remains prime hunting ground for the Nerazzurri number 9. Challenging Laki’s flash—who ultimately took the top spot—was another masterpiece, this time more acrobatic than ballistic. The reference, of course, is to the scissors kick he executed at the Maradona in Naples: a technical flourish that exploded like a spark, not coincidentally orange, just like the Atalanta kit worn that day in Campania.
In the 51st minute, De Ketelaere shields the ball from Buongiorno and sparks Bellanova’s run. The Atalanta wing whizzes down the right flank and delivers a perfectly weighted cross to Scamacca, waiting in the box. The striker first fools Rrahmani with a body feint, then pounces on the ball with feline instinct, finishing the Nerazzurri’s collective move with a strike as elegant as it was lethal: a first-time right-footed volley that finds the only possible gap, beyond the reach of Milinković-Savić.
FINAL RESULTS
Winner: Lazar Samardžić, Olympique de Marseille 0-1 Atalanta, UEFA Champions League League Phase MD4 (75%)
White flash—or rather, Nerazzurri flash—on the Côte d’Azur: a cinematic goal, yet another for last season’s “silver ribbon” winner, scored, as fate would have it, in the heart of auteur cinema territory. And it’s right on the Champions League red carpet that Laki chose, as he did last season, to wear his finest suit, claiming the golden prize for November’s Goal of the Month.
High-angle wide shot: a fifty-meter green “croisette” separates the Nerazzurri number 10 from the goal. From there, the plot twist: as if in a lateral tracking shot, the scene tightens, following Laki as he snakes through the Marseille lines, advancing confidently toward the danger zone. A slow-motion close-up captures his lightning-quick, syncopated cuts: the first dribble, then the second. The defenders freeze, like stop-motion figurines. The virtuoso Serb centers his body and prepares the shot: first a frontal slow-motion shot, then an overhead view captures the full trajectory of the technical masterpiece, with the ball arching slightly as Rulli dives in a desperate attempt to stop it—in vain—before it nestles under the crossbar, sending the net vibrating. Finally, before the “fade to black,” a close-up on the evening’s hero: Laki erupts in celebration, gradually joined by his teammates.
Before the climax, as every proper finale demands, one last twist: deus ex machina, the VAR is called in for a check that seems to stretch time, like a scene straight out of a Hitchcock film, a script reversal that could change the night’s destiny. But after a few palpable moments of suspense, the heart-stopping tension transforms once again into pure jubilation: at the Vélodrome, the curtain officially falls on the coup that gives Atalanta their first away win in the 2025/26 Champions League!