Torino v Atalanta: the brainteaser

Back on the road again after opening our 2024/25 Serie A season with a 4-0 victory away to Lecce, Atalanta will make a stopover in the Maroon side of Turin: after drawing 2-2 in San Siro in their debut against Milan, where the home side sew up an 11th-hour comeback to nullify the visitors' two-goal lead, Vanoli's side will welcome the Nerazzurri for their seasonal home debut.

Which was the outcome of our last August game v Torino?

On August 21 2021 at 20:45 CEST Atalanta ushered in the new season at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino. Off to a budding start, the Nerazzurri took the lead on 6 minutes through Muriel: after dashing down the right wing, the Colombian striker cleaved the ball into the top corner with a left-footed scorcher. As Torino's pressing mounted up, forcing one goal-line save from Pessina per half, Belotti equalised on 79 minutes also thanks to a key deflection. Despite Verdi's chance in full stoppage time, Atalanta had the last laugh in a very contested "Zona Cesarini": 93rd minute, Pašalić gathered Rodriguez's headed deflection on Maehle's cross, shielded the ball before playing it up for Piccoli, who controlled the ball before vanquishing the opposing keeper in front of goal to make it 2-1.

Relive our 11th-hour win with the highlights of the match

Who is the Nerazzurro topscorer against the Maroons in Turin?

Atalanta's scoring tally in Turin amounts to 69 goals in the 64 matches played thus far (150 in total considering the matchups in Bergamo). While Muriel is the all-time Nerazzurri scorer with 7 overall nets (4 at home and 3 way), who is the best Orobic marksman in the Piedmont capital alone? With 5 nets scored across his two stints for Atalanta, Cristiano Doni holds the title of "Golden Boot" in the Maroon stadium.

Pictured below is Cristiano Doni, donning the Atalanta shirt in the 2007/08 season

Had Gasperini and Vanoli ever faced before?

Sunday night's game will be the first actual face-off on the sidelines between Gasperini and Vanoli despite having already been "informally introduced" back in the 2019-2021 biennium when Vanoli was part of Antonio Conte's staffing as a technical collaborator.

And what about the matchups away from the coaching zone? Despite the over 260 appearances across the Serie A and Serie B garnered by the Maroons' caretaker in charge and the twenty-years experience of the Grugliasco coach, the two strategists never ever faced before.

The only time when the professional destinies of the two caretakers would have faced dates back to the 2004/05 Serie B season, when Gasperini was at the helm of Crotone and Vanoli donned the red-and-white shirt of Vicenza, had it not been for a whole host of sliding doors: while Gasperini was laid off in December (before being called back in the following April), Vanoli joined Vicenza during the course of the winter season.