Lecce v Atalanta: the stats report
Extending our MD1 winning streak first set back in 2018
The Nerazzurri ushered in the 2024/25 Serie A season in the best of ways, clinching a 4-0 walkover away at Lecce. As stressed by Stats Perform's Opta Facts report*,* Atalanta have extended their MD1 winning streak to 7 back-to-back games (namely, since the 2018/19 campaign), all of them played away, while also keeping up with the custom of scoring 2+ goals that bind the team's last 6 seasonal debuts. Everything taken into account, the Via del Mare game set a new Club record spree. Additionally, for the third time in their history, Atalanta opened the new season with a four-goal difference; with the previous ones being: the 4-0 home win over Frosinone in August 2018 and the 6-2 landslide in Bologna back in September 1949. The team has also kept a MD1 clean sheet in the last three consecutive Serie A seasons, setting another historic first.
On the grounds of his 552 points claimed at the helm of Atalanta, Gian Piero Gasperini has now become the fifth-ever Serie A coach to have surpassed the 550-points milestone at the helm of the same Club after the likes of Helenio Herrera, Carlo Ancelotti, Massimiliano Allegri and Giovanni Trapattoni.
Our 4-0 win bears the signatures of Marco Brescianini and Mateo Retegui, who shared the spotlight with a brace each (with the Italian-Argentine bagging his first-ever Serie A double-scoring). The last time two Atalanta debutants both quenched their offensive thirst on their Serie A maiden game dates back to August 21 2016, when both Franck Kessié (a brace) and Andrea Petagna featured on the scoreboard against Lazio. Additionally, Lecce retain the title of Retegui's "favourite victim", having the black-and-blue striker scored three goals against the Salento Club. As a further trivia about the scoring habits of our number 32, Mateo has shown a certain aerial knack against the Salento team, having netted 67% of his headed goal against the Apulian Giallorossi.
With Mario Pašalić delivering an assist last night, the Croatian mid has become one of the three players, together with Nicolò Barella and Darko Lazovic, to have donned the wingman cape at least once in the last seven Serie A campaigns.
Closing off with the individual figures provided by the Serie A's official Match Report, while Pašalić leads the charts in terms of both successful passes on the offensive third (15) and the overall (62), Matteo Ruggeri was the game's benchmark as far as most balls played (86) and retrievals (13) are concerned, whilst also being the leading Nerazzurro for goal chances created (3).