Overview
After losing the opportunity to advance straight to the round of 16 due to losing the last 2 matches of the group stage, Atalanta continued to face difficulties in the Champions League when they succumbed in the first leg of the play-off round.
Being led by just 3 minutes, the Serie A representative lost to Borussia Dortmund with a score of 0-2, thereby facing an extremely difficult challenge in the second leg next week. This result also ended their streak of positive form.
Previously, Atalanta had just experienced a period of sublimation with 3 consecutive victories in all competitions, including a 3-0 victory over Juventus to win a ticket to the Coppa Italia semi-finals, and at the same time continue to improve their position in the Serie A standings.
In the domestic league, La Dea is still one of the most impressive teams in Italy. Since the beginning of 2026, they have been unbeaten with 7 wins and 2 draws, most recently a 2-0 victory over Lazio right in Rome last weekend.
Coach Raffaele Palladino has witnessed his players earn 20 more points in this calendar year - a record only behind the leading team Inter Milan. At home, Atalanta is also owning a 4-match winning streak in Serie A and aims to extend that impressive streak this weekend.
Statistics show that the confrontations between Atalanta and Napoli at Bergamo are often very open. In the last six encounters at Gewiss, both teams scored, averaging 4 goals per game.
In the opposite direction, Napoli - once a strong candidate for the Scudetto - is now only leading Atalanta by 8 points, after gradually losing momentum since the Italian Super Cup title at the end of December.
Standing third in the rankings and 11 points behind Inter Milan, Partenopei's chance to defend the throne is almost closed. They have also just been eliminated from both the Champions League and Coppa Italia, making the central goal at this time to maintain a position in the top 4, when behind is the fierce pursuit of many opponents.
Last weekend, Napoli maintained the gap with the direct competitor group and extended their unbeaten streak at the Stadio Maradona, thanks to Alisson Santos' late equalizer in the Derby del Sole match against Roma.
However, coach Antonio Conte's team is revealing many problems in defense. In the last 4 matches in Serie A, Napoli has conceded 8 goals, compared to only 7 goals in the previous 10 matches. They also went through 7 consecutive matches without keeping a clean sheet in all competitions, with increasingly serious defensive errors.
Notably, after Donyell Malen's penalty in the most recent round, Napoli has become the team that conceded the most goals from penalties in Serie A this season, with 6 goals conceded in eight penalty kicks.
However, Antonio Conte often shows effective maneuverability when facing strong opponents. In the current encounters between the top 7 teams, only AC Milan has more points than Napoli (15 points), while Atalanta only has 7 points.
One of the notable highlights is Napoli's 3-1 victory at Maradona's stadium in the second leg in November last year. The Southern Italian team also has a 4-game winning streak in their most recent away games to Bergamo.
Expected lineup:
Carnesecchi, Scalvini, Djimsiti, Ahanor, Zappacosta, Ederson, De Roon, Bernasconi, Samardzic, Zalewski, Krstovic.
Milinkovic-Savic, Beukema, Buongiorno, Jesus, Gutierrez, Lobotka, Elmas, Spinazzola, Politano, Vergara, Hojlund.
The match between Atalanta and Napoli takes place at 9:00 PM on February 22nd (Vietnam time).
