Atalanta v Lecce: the brainteaser

Sunday night lights in Bergamo, who will wrap up April with their third home game of the month. Rolling into town are Giampaolo’s Lecce, crossing the Nerazzurri’s path for the return leg showdown six months after the Serie A Enilive curtainraiser at the Via del Mare. The clash with the Giallorossi marks the final bend before the home stretch: a four-game sprint to the finish line, which will see Gasperini’s men face: Monza away, Roma at home, Genoa on the road again, and last but not least, Parma, for one final dance huddled by the Gewiss Stadium’s faithful.

Our first Gewiss Stadium win came with Lecce

October 6 2019, a day of "firsts" in Bergamo! After their temporary "buen retiro" at Sassuolo's Città del Tricolore stadium, Atalanta finally returned to their beloved home turf, pampered to a fitting reception too: welcomed not only by the sight of a fully revamped Curva Nord Pisani, a stadium refreshed in name as well opened its gates to the Nerazzurri... Making its debut against Lecce the 2019/20 Serie A MD7 game against Lecce marked the Gewiss Stadium's first time on the sheet, ushering a new era for Atalanta's home fortress!

And what better to cut the ribbon than with an emphatic 3-1 win?

Wasting no time asserting themselves, the hosts came out flying and neared the opener just two minutes in with Zapata, whose header hissed slighly wide off mark, and then on 9 minutes when Ilicic tested Lecce's keeper Gabriel. The pressure mounted and the breakthrough came in the 35th, when Zapata unleahsed a thunderous right-footer and put Atalanta in front. After a feeble visiting attempt from La Mantia, it was Gomexz who struck gold instead: gathering a daft touch from Zapata, Papu danced through defenders and slotted it home with his left.

The first real explosion of joy of the new Curva Pisani came in the 56th thanks to Robin Gosens: after a quick one-two with Ilicic, the German wingback stormed into the box, finishing with composure to make it 3-0. Despite Muriel adding more firepower into the mix, not only did Lecce dig deep, thanks to a resilient Gabriel (proving himself key in keeping the Salento side into the game thanks to crucial saves on Ilicic and Gosens), but they also grabbed a late goal in the 86th with Lucioni.

What's our home win rate with Lecce?

Thanks to the 15 home wins from the 25 total meetings in all competitions in Bergamo (countered by the 2 Salentian win, both in Serie A and dating to the 2021/22 and 1993/94 seasons respectively, and the remaining 8 draws), Atalanta boast a 60.0% win rate against Lecce on home soil. Despite the impressive result, though, Lecce are not the side the home factor has been more prevalent against. So who tops that list as Atalanta’s favourite home opponent? Having fallen 29 times in their 43 visits to Bergamo (thus giving back a 67.4% win rate for the Nerazzurri, the honour goes to Cagliari. Rounding out the top five, we find: Venezia (15 wins in 26 games 57.7%), Monza (57.1%) and Hellas Verona (56.8%).

What’s the scoreline of our biggest home win over Lecce?

Let's wrap up this week's issue with our unmissable "Amarcord" feature! As touched on before, Atalanta have claimed 15 home victories against Lecce thus far, but which one stands out as the most dominant on the scoreboard?

Coming in also as runner-up having cropped up four times across four different decades (namely in the 1929/30, 1976/77, 1985/86 and the aforementioned 2019/20 campaigns), the 3-1 scoreline stands second - with 2-1 as winner in terms of frequency with 5. On the flip side, Lecce’s most convincing result in Bergamo is a thrilling 4–3 away win, which also ranks as the second highest-scoring match between the two sides (only trailing behind our unforgettable 2–7 walkover at the Via del Mare)...

Back on track, Atalanta’s biggest home win over Lecce was a resounding 5–0, a scoreline that still stands as the most dominant in Bergamo against the Giallorossi. Interestingly, it didn’t come in Serie A, but rather in the 1930/31 Serie B season, on Matchday 29. So, who got on the scoresheet in that vintage blowout? While Panzeri opened the floodgates, finishing off an assist from Simonetti, Bedetti nodded in the second with a towering header and Lodi made it three after a dazzling solo run crafted by Panzeri. After Cornolti added a fourth from the penalty spot, Bedetti struck again to seal the five-goal rout.