Napoli v Atalanta: the brainteaser

A staggering start of the month awaits the Nerazzurri! Called to embark on the umpteenth gauntlet before the International break, gasperini's man will take it to the Diego Armando Maradona pitch for the scramble to the top against pace-setting Napoli! Grt ready for Sunday's Big Match with our trivia on the game...

Which team has claimed the most wins in our last 10 games played in Naples?

Even though the overall record sees the host on top both as far as both accumulated wins (39 opposed to 10, a tangible proof of how our outing in Campania is always a hard fought affair) and goals scored (103 to 48) are concerned, the picture from our last 10 outings across all competitions has the Nerazzurri undefeated in 7 games. Namely, while the black-and-blue wins amount to 5, opposed to the 3 successes from the hosts and the 2 draws. Likewise, the Orobic side is also leading in terms of goals scored with 1 clear.

For a quick brush-up, check the "cliff notes" on our last 10 games in Naples (the Nerazzurri scorers are listed in between brackets):

1. Napoli 0-2 Atalanta, 2016/17 Serie A MD26 (Caldara 2);
2. Napoli 3-1 Atalanta, 2017/18 Serie A MD2 (Cristante);
3. Napoli 1-2 Atalanta, 2017/18 Coppa Italia quarterfinals (Catagne, Gomez);
4. Napoli 1-2 Atalanta, 2018/19 Serie A MD33 (Zapata, Pašalić);
5. Napoli 2-2 Atalanta, 2019/20 Serie A MD10 (Iličić, Freuler)
6. Napoli 4-1 Atalanta, 2020/21 Serie A MD4 (Lammers)
7. Napoli 0-0 Atalanta, 2021/22 Coppa Italia Semi-final, 1st leg;
8. Napoli 2-3 Atalanta, 2021/22 Serie A MD16 (Malinovskyi, Demiral, Zapata);
9. Napoli 2-0 Atalanta, 2022/23 Serie A MD26;
10. Napoli 0-3 Atalanta, 2023/24 Serie A MD30 (Miranchuk, Scamacca, Koopmeiners);

Double Caldara for the win! The black-and-blue defender pictured after scoring his brace back in the 2016/17 campaign...

Which current Atalantino made his Serie A debut as a nerazzurro against Napoli?

With 253 appearances across all competitions he's the 12th most-capped Atalantino in the history of the Club! We're talking about Berat Djimsiti: upon joining the Orobic ranks back in January 2016, the Albanian centreback garnered three appearances in the latter half of the 2015/16 campaign before "earning his stripes" with the two consecutive loan spells in Avellino and Benevento. Out of his three first games as a black-and-blue, Berat made his Serie A debut against none other than Napoli; namely, in the MD30 game played at the then San Paolo stadium on May 2 2016...

Despite also belonging to the class of "2015/16", Marten de Roon debuted on MD1, during the fixture against Inter played back on August 24 2015.

Third players enrolled by Atalanta during that same season, Toloi (sixth ever most capped Nerazzurro with 297 games) donned the black-and-blue colours against Sassuolo on MD3 (on the 13th of September).

To our 4-0 win over Frosinone on August 20 2018 dates Mario Pašalić's first ever appearance instead, with the Croatian racking up 264 caps to this day.

Djimmi's first! Berat, donning the shirt number 55 back in the day, pictured on his Serie A debut...

Will it be our first-ever lunch match in Naples?

Despite the 12:30 am kick-off being a rare bird for our outings in Campania with the prime-time 8.45 pm timetable being the most recurring one with 7 previous itarations, Sunday's game won't be a first either.

Our first and only thus far prandial matchups coincides with our latest game played on the Vesuvian slopes: on 30 March 2023, the team then managed by Calzona welcomed the Nerazzurri after Gasperini's men gained access to the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals by defeating Sporting CP in the RO16. Which was the outcome? A 3-0 win courtesy of Miranchuk, Scamacca and Koopmeiners.