National Play-offs Round 1 – Torres 2-1 Atalanta U23s
Nerazzurri enter the Last-8 shortlist
Although Torres came out 2-1 on top in Sassari, the Nerazzurri punched their ticket to the National Playoffs Round 2 thanks to an 8-3 aggregate, reaching the "quarterfinals" for the first time in the Club's history.
A cagey start for Atalanta with coach Modesto's lads biding their time and opting for a more speculative approach. The Nerazzurri's first chance of the game came in the 28th, when Vlahović, sent through by Pounga, went for a lob over the Rossoblù keeper, with the dink sailing just wide of the far post. At the other hand the hosts seemingly took the lead in the 36th, but the goal got chalked out by VAR due to an offside in the build-up- Torres' breakthrough eventually came before the break as Varela curled an edge-of-the-box strike into the back of the net to make it 1-0 on 42 minutes.
Despite Torres doubling their lead in the 66th minute as Varela found the net once again, not only did the hosts fail to set up maningful chances to get back in contention, but they ended up conceding from the Nerazzurri, who put the game to sleep with Scheffer, sealing the deal with a powerful ranged finish on a rebound from Masi's free-kick.
TORRES 2-1 ATALANTA U23s
Scorers: Varela 42, 66 (T), Scheffer 96 (A)
Torres: Zaccagno, Idda, Antonelli (C), Fabriani, Zecca (Zambataro 73), Brentan, Masala (Nanni 61), Liviero, Mastinu (Casini 68) , Zamparo (Scotto 61), Varela (Fischnaller 68). Unused bench: Petriccione, Mercadante, Dametto, Frau, Diakite, Guiebre, Fois, Giorico, Carboni. Coach: Alfonso Greco.
Atalanta U23s: Vismara, Pounga (Riccio 46), Gyabuaa (C), Obrić, Scheffer, Alessio, Cassa (Vavassori 65), Bernasconi (Masi 89), Navarro, Bergonzi (Del Lungo 81), Vlahović (De Nipoti 65). Unused bench: Pardel, Dajčar, Tornaghi, Berto, Panada, Comi, Ghislandi, Ceresoli, Artesani, Lonardo. Bench: Francesco Modesto.
Referee: Alessandro Silvestri from Roma 1;
Assistant referees: Matteo Cardona from Catania and Gianmarco Macripò from Siena;
Fourth official: Dario Di Francesco from Ostia Lido;
VAR: Manuel Volpi from Arezzo;
AVAR: Valerio Vogliacco from Bari.
Notes: Navarro (A), Idda (T) and Brentan (T) booked.