The season’s first hit: Carnesecchi is August’s Lete POTM!

After providing the summer soundtrack to last season’s opening Player of the Month, Marco Carnesecchi is back at the top of the Lete charts exactly twelve months later. Gold on his debut last year, platinum with the Player of the Season award and now a new hit straight in at number one: the 2026/27 POTM Lete kicks off to the tune of the Nerazzurri’s No. 29.

Seventeen saves from 18 shots on target, two clean sheets across the European double-header against Hapoel Tel Aviv and even a long clearance to spark the move for Krstović’s winner against Sassuolo. With those credentials, the No. 29 has picked up exactly where he left off: Saint Marco is back, immediately producing numbers and saves worthy of the reigning Player of the Season.

While his stop from Boateng preserved the 0-0 draw in the first leg against Hapoel Tel Aviv, Carnesecchi saved his best for the closing stages of the return fixture. With Atalanta one goal up and a place in the League Phase drawing ever closer, Buskila found room to shoot in the 82nd minute: an instinctive effort through a crowded view, but the No. 29 reacted in a flash, getting just enough on the ball to divert it onto the post and keep the Nerazzurri’s 1-0 lead intact.

In between, Sassuolo also found their way into Carnesecchi’s August repertoire. Laurienté and then Adžić tested the Nerazzurri goalkeeper, who this time also found a way to make his mark much further up the pitch: it was his long clearance that launched the move Krstović eventually converted for the 2-1 winner. And if the month began with a European clean sheet, it ended with overtime against Bologna: Bernardeschi and Ferguson repeatedly put the No. 29 to the test, with Carnesecchi playing a crucial role in keeping Atalanta in the contest until, beyond the 90th minute, Samardžić settled it.

A last-gasp entry and the best possible outcome given Marco Carnesecchi’s dominance: August silver belongs to Lazar Samardžić! Much like the ace up his sleeve against Bologna, Laki bursts into the Player of the Month race with a 10-out-of-10 play — fittingly, the number on his back.

After a pre-season punctuated by flashes of invention and class, the Nerazzurri’s десет saved his finest touch for competitive action: the pièce de résistance of his late summer, a moment of magic against Bologna that preserved Atalanta’s unbeaten August and secured a second successive positive result at the New Balance Arena. And once again, the Bergamo crowd erupts beyond the 90th minute, when even the Full-time graphic seemed done and dusted — much to our admin’s delight: the Borussia Dortmund play-off and social posts docent.

Third place is shared by Gianluca Scamacca and Nikola Krstović: the Nerazzurri’s attacking rotation is reflected on the POTM Lete podium too, with the two centre-forwards sharing September bronze.

For Scamacca, the defining snapshot comes straight from Miskolc. After the goalless first leg, it was the No. 9 who found the breakthrough against Hapoel Tel Aviv, opening the scoring in the return fixture and turning that 1-0 into Atalanta’s passport to the UEFA Conference League League Phase.

If Gianluca punched Atalanta’s ticket to Europe, Nikola made his mark in the league. In the season opener against Sassuolo, just minutes after coming on and much like his podium partner in Hungary, Krstović needed little time to make an impact, latching onto Carnesecchi’s long ball to score the match-winner. A first goal of the season and Atalanta’s first Serie A Man of the Match award of 2026/27: an attacking relay that moves from the pitch to the POTM standings.

First one in the bag, Marcone! The season’s opening Player of the Month Lete is yours. Nerazzurri fans, keep the App handy: the next round of voting is already just around the corner!