Atalanta vs. Bologna: the quarter-finals begin

The quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa will kick off at the Gewiss Stadium, where Atalanta are set to face Bologna at 21:00 CET. In what will be a straight knockout tie, the match will go to penalties if the teams are level after 90 minutes. Both sides entered the competition at the round of 16 stage: the hosts, who reached the final last season, beat Cesena 6-1, while Bologna ran out 4-0 winners against Monza. La Dea and the Rossoblù have both won the competition before: Atalanta triumphed in 1962/63, while the later got their hands on the trophy in 1969/70 and 1973/74.

HEAD TO HEAD

The last time Atalanta and Bologna faced each other in the Coppa Italia was in the 2001/02 season, when in the round of 16 they drew both legs and the Bergamo team progressed on away goals (2-2 in the first leg at the home of the Rossoblù, 0-0 in the return leg). After losing their first Coppa Italia home match against Bologna in 1974, Atalanta have since remained unbeaten in their next four home matches, winning three times and drawing once.

DID YOU KNOW?

In four of the last six seasons in which Atalanta have participated in the quarter-final stage of the Coppa Italia, they have gone on to progress to the next round, after having been eliminated in their previous five appearances in the final eight. Bologna have been eliminated on the last two occasions in which they participated in the quarter-final stage of the Coppa Italia; in fact, they have not reached the semi-final stage of the competition since 1999 under Carlo Mazzone. Atalanta have conceded in each of their last nine Coppa Italia matches (6-1 in the most recent against Cesena) and only between 1937 and 1941 have they conceded at least one goal in more consecutive matches in the competition (10 in that case). Since the 2016-17 season, Bologna have kept 12 clean sheets in 20 Coppa Italia matches; in that period only Juventus have collected more clean sheets than the Rossoblù (19 in 37 matches – Lazio and Milan also have 12). Atalanta (10) and Bologna (9) are the two teams that recorded the most shots on target in the round of 16 of this season’s Coppa Italia, as well as being two of the four teams, along with Roma and Inter, that faced the fewest shots on target (1 each).

PLAYERS

In the round of 16, two Atalanta players scored braces, in Charles De Ketelaere and Lazar Samardzic; among Serie A teams since 2005-06, only Fiorentina (three in both 2014/15 and 2018/19) and Inter (three in both 2006/07 and 2007/08) have had more players score braces in a single Coppa Italia season. During his time in Italy, Juan Cuadrado has scored three goals and provided three assists against Bologna, all in Serie A; only against three other teams has he scored at least three goals and recorded at least three assists (Torino, Sampdoria and Udinese). The two youngest scorers in the round of 16 of this season’s Coppa Italia play for Bologna: Santiago Castro (18/09/2004) and Benjamín Domínguez (19/09/2003) – overall in this edition the only younger players to score are Patrick Nuamah and Pietro Candelari (both born in 2005).

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: none Cautioned: Djimsiti, Toloi

REFEREE

MARINELLI (ROSSI L. – RICCI) IV: GHERSINI, VAR: SERRA, AVAR: LA PENNA

UPCOMING MATCHES IN SERIE A

Hellas Verona-Atalanta (Saturday 8 February, 15:00 CET) Lecce-Bologna (Sunday 9 February, 18:00 CET) (Photo Getty Images)