Lecce v Atalanta: the brainteaser

Within three months since their last encounter, the Nerazzurri will cross the Via del Mare's gates once again to bring forth their 2024/25 Serie A Enilive endeavours with the first of their three back-to-back outings for August.

Did we ever face Lecce away on MD1?

Raising the curtains with Lecce, yea or nay? A bit of both! Although it is factual that we already crossed paths with the Apulian Giallorossi on MD1, namely at home in the 2004-2005 season (a 2-2 draw was the final outcome back then with Pazzini and Albertini being the Nerazzurri scorers), it is also true that the Monday's kick-off will be an historic first for the team's record books. Never before had Atalanta ushered in the new season in Salento, thus breaking from the league "tradition" which saw traveling to Apulian as a rite of passage usually reserved for after the break-in period. Historically, out of the 25 matchups played in Lecce, only 8 took place within MD10.

"Blast from the past": in the photo below Giampaolo Pazzini, barely twenty at the time, pictured while scoring the temporary Atalanta lead in the 2-2 draw on the 2004/05 Serie A MD1.

What was the time gap between Krstović's chance and CDK's goal last season?

As hinted in the intro, our last game at the Via del Mare stadium dates back to 3 months ago, when Lecce , strong of having already staved off relegation, welcomed Atalanta, on the lookout for points to punch their ticket to the 2024-2025 Champions League and only four days away from the Dublin final, on May 18 2024.

After a hotly-contested first half, which saw Musso and Falcone go the extra mile to keep the scoreboard level at halftime, the second half saw the home side go all out to capitalize on the element of surprise: on 46'16'' Piccoli flew down the wing after gathering González's through pass and then rolled the ball across for Krstović, who finished high above the bar. Again in possession after Musso's goal kick, Lecce got back on the offensive with Venuti, who had his cross cleared away by Scalvini. Upon receiving the ball it fell to Scamacca pull the rabbit out of the hat to unleash De Ketelaere. Despite starting with his back to the goal, from his own half and by the sideline, the Italian striker tamed the ball before pulling off an arabesque to ignite the Belgian forward, who gathered the no-look trivela pass on the run and made his way to the goal before finalising with a "well-mannered" lob to give Atalanta the lead. The stopwatch now marks 47:03. 47 seconds, not even a twist in the dial to jump from the sighs of relief to the ecstasy of the black-and-blue fans in Lecce and beyond...

Check the highlights to relive last season's perfect thunderstorm.

When was the first ever Lecce v Atalanta played?

As stated above, the Monday night fixture kicking off on August 19 will be the 25th match-up between the two teams to be held in Salento (and the 51st all-time) in all competitions. But when was the very first outing played? For the answer, you'll have to go back to the 1929-1930 Serie B season: on June 29 1930 the then Achille Starace stadium welcomed the Nerazzurri for their MD33 game against the Divisione Sud reigning champions. The final outcome? A 1-1 honours even.