After suffering a comeback defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the last round, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics, third-in-the-table Atalanta welcome the three-time champions of Europe at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
This will be only the second ever meeting between the duo across any European competition.
Preview
Atalanta arrive into the clash after salvaging a 2-2 draw against Lazio in Serie A, thanks to Marten De Roon’s 94th minute equalizer after Ciro Immobile had put the visitors in the driving seat with a 74th minute goal.
Sitting in third place with 4 points in the UCL table, two points behind toppers United and level on points with second-placed Villareal, Atalanta will look to take all three points with the backing of the home crowd. La Dea have a negative record of just one victory of their last five games against English teams in Europe (W1, D1, L3) – winning away at Liverpool last season.
The Red Devils are not enjoying the best of form with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under pressure to excel, although they comfortably dispatched a sub-par Tottenham Hotspur side 3-0 in the Premier League on the weekend. However, they will take comfort out of the fact that they have lost only one of their last 11 matches against Italian opposition in the Champions League (W8, D2, L1).
Manchester United are on the verge of making history as they look to record their 150th victory in the Champions League, thus becoming the first English side to reach the milestone and fourth overall after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Previous Results
Atalanta – W, L, D, W, D
Manchester United – D, L, W, L, W
Expected Lineups & Team News
Atalanta
Gian Piero Gasperini’s La Dea will be without five key absentees – defenders Hans Hateboer, Robin Gosens, Rafael Toloi, Berat Djimisiti and midfielder Matteo Pessina.
3-4-2-1 – Juan Musso; Matteo Lovato, Merih Demiral, Marten de Roon; Davide Zappacosta, Remo Freuler, Teun Koopmeiners, Joakim Maehle; Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mario Pasalic; Luis Muriel
Manchester United
A fully fit squad, except for Frenchman Anthony Martial, is expected to travel to Italy in what is Ronaldo’s first return to the peninsula since his blockbuster move to his boyhood club from Juventus.
4-2-3-1 – David de Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba; Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Cristiano Ronaldo
Prediction: Atalanta 2-1 Manchester United
Atalanta nearly pulled a victory out of the hat at Old Trafford after going 2-0 up at half-time before Ronaldo inspired the Red Devils to make a comeback, but this time the Nerazzurri could very well go all the way with the backing of the home crowd.