A beautiful and difficult match at the Olimpico, Maurizio Sarri relives the derby with the Giallorossi

BERGAMO – Atalanta returns to challenge their former coach Gian Piero Gasperini, this time with a completely different tactical philosophy. This is the one Maurizio Sarri is instilling in his squad, which has switched to a four-man defense and zonal marking. When the Giallorossi coach called Roma-Atalanta a show of strength, Sarri reiterated his high regard for him and reflected that it's a beautiful and important match, but a difficult one between a team that has 14 months of work behind it and one that has been building for 45 days. "Roma was a strong team, which has further strengthened, and ready to fight for the title. I'd be surprised if they didn't fight for the Scudetto until the end." Atalanta arrives at the Olimpico after playing four games in eleven days. Kristensen, who is among the 23-man squad, is back in the game, while Rowe arrived in Bergamo fitter, while Kessie needs to regain full fitness. The Ivory Coast international, fresh from the World Cup, is considered by Sarri to be a strong and intelligent player, suitable for both central midfield and defensive midfield. Regarding Atalanta's current state of health, the coach reiterated that the new era has been a challenging one, given that many players have made intermittent returns after the World Cup and several injured players have been unable to train. One of these is De Ketelaere. "From a technical standpoint, I consider him a champion. So far, I've had the feeling that he's only been used at 60-70/%, but he has enormous scope for being more consistent and decisive." "Considering that the new players arrived at the end of the transfer window, the team is at a lower level than it will be able to perform in a while," observed Sarri, who later in the press conference focused on the defenders, who are performing well individually but not yet as a unit.  “"We're not in great physical condition right now," he added. "The important thing in football is having players on the bench, especially attacking players, who don't enter the pitch knowing they can contribute to the game. If we can maintain this mentality from the bench, the points will continue to arrive." Who is Atalanta's Malen? "We don't have a player with his characteristics. Malen has great technical ability, he's poisonous in the penalty area, he has exceptional timing in attack and in deep, and he's a difficult player to control. We have many options, all of them excellent, we hope one of them becomes crucial in the match.".