Atalanta v Cagliari: the brainteaser

There's no time to dwell on the Flemish outcome: with the Saturday homecoming with Cagliari demanding Atalanta's full focus, the Nerazzurri are bound to lock in on the "final tune-up" before the UEFA Champions League return game slated for Tuesday 18 at the Gewiss Stadium. Eyes on the Rossoblù, then! Gear up for the first step of our homebody “two of a kind” with the pre-match quiz!

2020/21 Season, Atalanta 5-2 Cagliari: who put the game to bed?

After ushering the new campaign in style with two 4-goals walkover against Lazio and Torino, Atalanta made their much anticipated homecoming on October 4 to host Cagliari, then coached by Eusebio di Francesco, on MD3.

The game kicked off at full throttle as the Nerazzurri surged ahead in 7 minutes flat thanks to fully Latino link-up: Palomino played a perfectly timed ball to Muriel who, one-on-one with Cragno, slotted home the opener and tilted the needle in Atalanta's favour after VAR overturned an initial offside call. Despite Cagliari's equalizer in the 24th from a Godin header off a corner, the balance only lasted 5 minutes, as Gomez stepped in with "one of those Papu moments" to put the Nerazzurri back in the driver seat: pulling off a video-game-like play, Atalanta strung together 15 consecutive first-touch passes before Zapata laid it off to Gomez, who fired the ball into the far corner after leaving his marker in the dust. Atalanta then took full control, adding two more goals before halftime: Pašalić (37th) left unmarked to finish an assist from Gosens, and Zapata (41st) fired in a stunning curling shot to make it 4-1 and leave Cagliari with an uphill battle.

In the second half, as Cragno’s sharp reflexes kept Cagliari in the game, the Sardinians pulled one back in the 52nd minute through Joao Pedro on a counterattack. The match then became a real back-and-forth, with both teams coming close to scoring. But in the 81st minute, substitute Sam Lammers wrapped it up: a flurry of slick feints to leave Lykogiannis in his wake and a precise follow-up slasher to complete the Gewiss

Atalanta 2-1 Cagliari, 2014/15: when did Pinilla score?

Let’s continue our pre-match trivia with a classic: the “ex-player” goal. The focus here is on Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla, who played for Cagliari from 2012 to 2014 before joining Atalanta in the summer of 2015, following a brief spell at Genoa in the 2014/15 season.

Now, let’s focus on the match, which was a make-or-break moment for Atalanta in their battle to stay afloat under coach Colantuono.

After a cautious start from both teams, Atalanta, the more attacking side, took the lead in the 18th minute with a header from Biava off a Del Grosso cross. After a quick reaction save from Sportiello, Atalanta had several chances to extend their lead, with Carmona, Pinilla, and Zappacosta all coming close. However, just before the break, Cagliari leveled the score in the 44th minute, with Dessena capitalizing on a mistake from Del Grosso during a clearance.

The second half saw the tempo pick up as both teams threw caution to the wind. In the 53rd minute, Cagliari almost pulled ahead, with Joao Pedro rattling the post. Atalanta quickly responded, with Pinilla forcing a save from Brkic in the 58th minute. In the 76th minute, Stendardo had a golden opportunity to put Atalanta ahead, but his header off a corner missed the mark.

As the game seemed destined to end in a draw, Pinilla had the final say and proved that the "ex-player" law was alive and well, with his trademark move no less, in the 94th minute, when he pulled off a stunning bicycle kick off a cross from Zappacosta to complete a memorable last-minute turnaround for Atalanta.

Which season saw the Atalanta-Cagliari match with the most goals ever?

Atalanta has netted 85 goals at home against Cagliari in all competitions, placing the Sardinians 6th on the list of teams against whom the Nerazzurri has scored the most at home. While the most common result is a 2-1 home victory for the Bergamo side(9 times), followed by a 1-0 win (7 times), there have been 6 matches where the total goal count soared past 5. So, when did the match with the highest goal tally take place?

While the 2006/07 season holds the record for the highest-scoring draw ever registered in Bergamo (namely, the 3-3 honours even recorded on MD8 with goals from Loria, Ventola and Doni); the biggest home win in Serie A against Cagliari is a 5-2 triumph, which has occurred twice: in addition to the one mentioned at the start of this news, Atalanta also scored five goals in the opening match of the 1992/93 season- played, as a further trivia bit, at the Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna. In that case, the goal scorers were: Scapolo, Rambaudi, Ganz (vrace), and Villa (own goal).

Moving on with our string of "close-but -no-cigars", there's also the 6-0 victory in the 1932/33 Serie B season, which, while being Atalanta's largest ever win at home against Cagliari, falls short of the match in question as the braces from Bonomi Sadero and Benetti still don't suffice to match the 10 goals we’re after.

We are talking about the 6-4 goals galore dating back to March 27, 1932, namely the very first match-up between the two sides held in Bergamo.

1931/32 Divisione Nazionale B season, on MD24 Atalanta hosted Cagliari at the Brumana stadium in what turned out to be an absolute rollercoaster of a match. Despite Atalanta leading 3-0 at halftime, with goals from Panzeri and Simonetti, and an own goal by Molinis, all hell broke loose in the second half, with four nets bagged in the opening 15 minutes. Cagliari kicked off their fightback early in the second half, pulling one back at the 49th minute through Filippo, and Atalanta responded with another own goal, this time from Lauro. But the drama didn’t stop there: between the 53rd and 57th minutes, Cagliari scored twice more—D’Alberti converted a penalty, and Filippi added another. But wait, there's more being 3 goals shy of the final tally: In the final stretch, Simonetti bagged a brace (70th and 78th minutes), and Cagliari’s fourth goal came from Orani in the 82nd minute, bringing the final score to an epic 6-4.