The highly anticipated match between Atalanta and Milan ended as a scrappy 1-1 draw. While Milan dominated possession for much of the match, Atalanta’s well-organized backline restricted space in their defensive third. Both sides’ attacking players did not have great performances, as defensive midfielders Ismael Bennacer and Marten de Roon impressed the most.
Atalanta
Juan Musso – 7
Musso made an impressive six saves during the match, helping his side earn the home point against the champions. He had absolutely no chance to stop Bennacer’s goal, which careened off the far post into the net.
Rafael Toloi – 6
The captain had a quiet game and kept the backline organized while distributing safe, short-range passes to the reserved midfielders.
Merih Demiral – 7
Demiral also had a good night, giving Ante Rebic and Olivier Giroud little space to work in. He played quite deep for most of the match and did not see much of the ball.
Berat Djimsiti – 7.5
Along with the other centre-backs, Djimsiti had a strong performance. The defender was calm and collected on the right side, and he won a clutch tackle on Divock Origi late in the game, preventing a go-ahead goal for the Rossoneri.
Hans Hateboer – 6.5
Tasked with the challenging assignment of defending against Rafael Leao, Hateboer rose to the occasion. He played physically against the winger, compensating for the pace discrepancy with hard challenges. However, after a particularly nasty tackle he was somewhat fortunate to escape without a red card.
Marten de Roon – 8.5
In his sixth season as a starter for Atalanta, de Roon continues to be a stalwart in front of the backline. He won a number of clean tackles and made it exceptionally difficult for Brahim Diaz or Rebic to find space between the lines.
Teun Koopmeiners – 7
Playing in a versatile centre-midfield role, Koopmeiners keeps proving why Atalanta could allow Remo Freuler to depart. Against Milan, the Belgian made plays all over the pitch and showed great chemistry with de Roon.
Joakim Maehle – 7
Without much creativity coming from the right wing, Atalanta’s best chances ran through Maehle on the left. In spite of a daunting matchup with Davide Calabria, the wing-back created several chances, eventually finding Malinovskyi in a pocket of space for the opening goal.
Mario Pasalic – 6
At times, Pasalic looked like Atalanta’s most dangerous player, and at others he seemed utterly lost. It was a night to forget for the attacking midfielder, who was ultimately removed in favor of Giorgio Scalvini.
Duvan Zapata – 4.5
Paired with Malinovskyi rather than Luis Muriel, Zapata was unable to contribute much to the Atalanta attack. Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori harassed the forward constantly, and he seemed able to find the ball only when dropping into the midfield. After a strong start to the 2021/22 season, Zapata now has just one goal in his last 15 Serie A matches.
Ruslan Malinovskyi – 7
The Ukrainian had an solid night, scoring the opening goal for La Dea. While the shot took a fortunate deflection off Pierre Kalulu, he did well to find the open space and create the opportunity.
Substitutes
Luis Muriel – N/A
Giorgio Scalvini – N/A
Caleb Okoli – N/A
Ademola Lookman – N/A
Nadir Zortea – N/A
⚽️ @malinovskyi18's beautiful strike is cancelled out by @IsmaelBennacer's equally magnificent one with both @Atalanta_BC and @acmilan splitting the points ?#SerieA #AtalantaMilan pic.twitter.com/Oh3X1xBtSi
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) August 21, 2022
Milan
Mike Maignan – 6.5
Atalanta did not give Maignan much of an opportunity to shine, putting just two shots on target. The Frenchman was in position to stop Malinovskyi’s strike in the first half, but the ball took an unfortunate deflection.
Davide Calabria – 7
Milan’s back four had a solid night, and that effort began with Calabria. Facing a much stronger side, he was unable to contribute as much to the offense, but he put in the work and made a handful of important tackles in the defensive third.
Pierre Kalulu – 5
After his phenomenal showing against Udinese, Kalulu’s form suffered in Bergamo. The centre-back played decently on the backline, but he missed three point-blank headers on corners.
Fikayo Tomori – 7
Tomori continues to be incredibly consistent for the Rossoneri. While making no serious errors, he was able to shut down Zapata and venture forward a time or two.
Theo Hernandez – 7
As usual, Hernandez excelled at driving the ball in the left channel, and he also won a crucial slide tackle on an Atalanta counter attack.
Ismael Bennacer – 9
Playing in the double pivot with Sandro Tonali, the Algerian turned in another brilliant performance. While the Italian stayed deep, Bennacer took over Franck Kessie’s box-to-box role, playing much higher up the pitch than normal and involving himself in the Milan attack. He cemented his day as one of the best of the season with a stunning second-half goal, equalizing for the Rossoneri.
Sandro Tonali – 7.5
Other than miss-hitting a shot early in the match, Tonali had a fine game. He played the role of deep-lying midfielder to perfection, pulling the strings with dangerous through-balls and key passes.
Brahim Diaz – 5
After performing well in Week One, Brahim again started over new signing Charles De Ketelaere. Against Atalanta, however, he was unable to replicate the performance. Atalanta’s trio of centre-backs and two deep midfielders restricted the space around the Spaniard, forcing Milan to play wide instead.
Rafael Leao – 6
Early on, Leao showed flashes of his immense talent, but, as the match wore on, his contributions were minimal. As Milan struggled to penetrate the Dea defense, Leao’s shots became more and more erratic, failing to challenge Musso.
Junior Messias – 5
Messias had a rough night, lacking creativity when in possession. He took a number of clumsy touches and failed to convert a would-be goal from close-range.
Ante Rebic – 4
Much like Brahim, the Croatian forward took a step backward against Atalanta. He failed to generate any meaningful chances, managing just 18 touches in 58 minutes. Stefano Pioli quickly replaced Rebic with Olivier Giroud in the second half.
Substitutes
Charles De Ketelaere – 4.5
While replacing Diaz as the number ten, De Ketelaere was less than impressive. His passing was not particularly crisp, and he lacked the creative spark in the midfield that Milan desperately needed.
Olivier Giroud – 5.5
Like De Ketelaere, Giroud was unable to succeed where Rebic failed, but he did have a decent attempt in the 63rd minute.