Atalanta v Monza: the brainteaser

Halloween's Eve at the Gewiss Stadium! For our first seasonal mid-week kick-off and as the partial closure of the home gauntlet that will have us contend three fixtures in a week, Atalanta will welcome Alessandro Nesta's Monza. Kick-off against the Brianza side is fixed for 20:45 CET.

How many assists did Lookman dish out v Monza?

Still waiting to celebrate his first goal against Monza, Lookman nonetheless proved a certain knack to flaunt all his "wingman" abilities against the "Bagai": (with 4 key passes in as many games) out of the grand total of 21 provided thus far, with no other opponent has the Nigerian striker shown himself in all his generosity more than against the Briantei. As for the breakdown of the “Lookman factor”, Mola has demonstrated quite a knack for "stooging" away from home (with 3 assists being dished out in the Brianza capitol) and to go at the "showdown" with a "pocket assists".

As a further statistical oddity, Lookman provided his first (or rather first two) assist against none other than Monza: 2022/23 Serie A, MD5 and minute 56 on the stopwatch, upon gathering the ball, Mola takes on his opponent before sprinting toward the by-lineand loosening a daisy-cutter cross for Højlund, who cuts through the opposing defence to find the winning paw that seals the first (without skimming on the suspance given the VAR review to vouch the Dane's net after the previous offside call) of his 10 black-and-blue goals.

The visitors doubled moments later, on 65 minutes to be exact: after a mazy run on the right flank, Éderson whips out a cross towards the far post and finds Lookman, who favours Marlon's Own Goal by rolling the ball across.

After getting a taste, Mola doubled down with: the assist to Muriel that sealed our 5-2 home win in the return game played on MD38 (thus opening and closing his wingman ledger against the same team) and his two key passes to De Ketelaere ( a cross from a corner kick) and to El Bilal Touré (a no-look trivela pass) on Week 33 of the folllowing campaign.

How many Atalanta players scored their first goal against Monza?

Despite the abridged number of matchups (with out feud "turning 30" on Wednesday), 7 Atalanta players have opened their scoring logbook against the Brianza side.

Before delving into the full list, numbers tell how a very select posse (two to be exact) have celebrated their first black-and-blue joy huddled by the home crowd. As far as competition breakdown is concerned, the make-up is divided as follows: 2 in the Coppa Italia (both in the former "Group Phase"), 3 in the Serie B the 2 in the Serie A.

Going in chronological order, here are the names of our "7 debutants", with full references to the season, the tournament, the matchday and the outcome:

1. Lamberto Leonardi: Monza 1-1 Atalanta, 1970/71 Coppa Italia 1970/71, Group Phase;
2. Battista Festa: Atalanta 1-0 Monza, 1976/77 Serie B MD2;
3. Roberto Sodà: Monza 1-1 Atalanta, 1983/84 Serie B MD14;
4. Robert Prytz: Monza 1-2 Atalanta, 1988/89 Coppa Italia Group Phase;
5. Corrado Colombo: Monza 1-2 Atalanta, 1998/99 Serie B 1998/99 MD14;
6. Rasmus Højlund: Monza 0-2 Atalanta, 2022/23 Serie A MD5;
7. Gianluca Scamacca: Atalanta 3-0 Monza, 2023/24 Serie A MD3.

When did Monza last win in Bergamo?

As stated before, Wednesday night will mark the 30th matchup between the two sides and the 14th to be held in the Orobic city. While on one hand the both the overall and the home tables read the Nerazzurri on top both as far as goals (40 to 27, of which 21 to 8 in Bergamo) and wins (12 against 7 with 10 draws to close the ledger) are concerned, when did the Briantei last claim a win in the "città dei mille"?

For as much as the latest white-and-red win dates to the 1990-2000 Serie B MD9 (1-0 the outcome), it has to be noted that it was claimed in the then "Brianteo" stadium.Likewise, Monza's very first triumph also came at the end of another outing (namely, another 1-0, in the 1969/70 Serie B MD16, this time). Which leaves as the last option (and right answer) the 2-0 triumph in the MD14 od the1980/81 cadet season.