Fiorentina v Atalanta, the brainteaser

With the last International break of the season well past behind us, a literal lull before the storm, the much-anticipated “final rush” is finally here to stay! Nine “special stages” lie ahead for Atalanta as they race towards the power stage at the end of May. Revving at the starting line, the Nerazzurri are eager for the countdown to hit zero, ready to shift into top gear and powersteer their way into the Franchi shakedown, the first 90-minute round standing before the finish line. Ready to fire up the engines and wait for the green light? Here’s the “technical inspection” with your pre-match quiz!

What was the outcome of our latest MD30 game at the Franchi stadium?

With Sunday's match marking the 10th meeting between the two teams on Game Week 30, further solidifying this round as the go-to for the most frequent encounters. As an additional "tidbit" before diving headfirst into the question, when it comes to the MD chart, the balance is as even as it gets (with 3 victories apart and 3 draws rounding out the picture).

Narrowing the focus to the 5 Tuscany showdowns, what was the outcome of our last MD30 outing by the Arno banks?

Crossing the "red herrings" out of the way, if you guessed either a "2-3 win" or a "1-0 setback", although both took place at the Franchi on Serie A MD30s (namely, in the 2020/21 campaign and the 1986/87 season respectively), you’d be barking up the wrong tree. Same goes for the option a "0-3 win", the final outcome of our very first win in Florence -which occurred in the 1938/39 Serie B, though. So, to wrap up this tale, let’s go with the key piece of the puzzle: we're talking about the 1-1 draw from the 2022/23 season (highlights available below), where Maehle kicked things off with the opening goal for the Nerazzurri.

2011/12 Serie A: Fiorentina 2-2 Atalanta: when did Masiello score?

"Eight minutes of frenzy". This, in a nutshell, sums up Match Week 16 of the 2012-2012 campaign...

"Picture a Saturday night in Florence": at the Franchi stadium, Colantuono's Atalanta found themselves on the visiting end as Delio Rossi's Fiorentina set the table for a match that turned out to be littered with twists, turns and drama galore.

After a lackluster first half, where the Bergamo side gave up the lead to the hosts as Gilardino, unexplicably left unmarked and free to finalize at whim on a Vargas cross, broke the deadlock almost by chance on a defensive blunder and nothing more - "with the exception" of a rather blatant penalty for Atalanta falling on deaf ears in the 17th minute-; the Nerazzurri literally flipped the script in the second half: from the get-go the latter half proved itself black-and-blue and Atalanta all over.

Fuelled by a rampant Schelotto, the Nerazzurri almost put one on the board on 57 minutes, when Denis went but a whisker off target against a flat-footed Boruc, before putting the hosts, who found their second wind in the 73rd with a Behrami shot deflected onto the post by Sportiello, on the backfoot in their scramble for the equalizer. A leveller that not only came about mere minutes later, but that also set off a wild chain reaction: as he picked up a rebound off a corner previously taken by Cigarini and slotted it home in the 81st minute with a ranged volley to pluck his first seasonal goal, little did Masiello little did Masiello realize that this strike would be just the tip of the iceberg. Lighting up a fuse, Atalanta upped the ante, turning the game of its head in the blink of an eye courtesy of a relentless Denis: capitalizing on a low cross from Schelotto, El Tanque swooped in with a ghastly poacher finish.

But in the 88th minute, it’s Jovetic who grabbed an acrobactic equalizer and salvaged a point for Fiorentina, at the end of a play marred by both a handball from De Silvestri andan off-side by the Montenegro striker himself in the follow-up, both missed by the referee.

How many times have we faced Fiorentina after the break?

Sunday's game will kick off another chapter of what has become yet another long-standing "unwritten tradition" for both teams. Namely, we're hinting at the habit of both sides more often than not crossing their Serie A paths right after the International break. With 22 encounters thus far, no other team has faced Atalanta with such regularity. What about the score, then? Atalanta have come out on top 6 times, while Fiorentina have bagged 9 wins, and the remaining 7 matches have ended in a draw.

Aside from Fiorentina, which teams have we met most often after the break? Rounding out the Top-5 are: Udinese (with 18 encounters), Milan (with 16), and the Roma-Sampdoria-Napoli trio (all tied at 14).

Bonus question... When was the last time Atalanta and Fiorentina, regardless of the venue in this case, met after the International break? No need for digging in the black-and-blue alamanac in this case! The most recent clash after the national call-ups took place on round 4 earlier this season, where Atalanta played out to a 3-2 comeback, with goals from Retegui, De Ketelaere, and Lookman in front of a buzzing, newly renovated Gewiss Stadium (highlights available below)!