Twitter-Atalanta
Atalanta will be locking horns with Valencia at home for the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie as both clubs look to go as far as possible in the European Competition. Atalanta sits at fourth in Serie A, whereas, Valencia is seventh in La Liga as of now. The turning point for Atalanta was the 1-1 draw to Manchester City which kept them in the hunt, followed by victories against Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively. As for Valencia, their form in the Spanish League might be a bit of a worry, but they did manage to top their respective Champions League group in spite of having the likes of Chelsea and Ajax in it. Having said that, Valencia can definitely turn out to be a handful against Atalanta.
Match Details
Date- Thursday, February 20
Kick-Off– 1:30 AM (IST)
Venue- San Siro
Atalanta
Rafael Toloi is back in contention for the Italian club after missing out in the final group game due to suspension. The positive news for the hosts is that they do not have any players missing out due to injury. Ruslan Malinovskiy and Mario Pasalic could settle for the bench. Dual Zapata and Josip Ilicic should be the ideal front two with Alejandro Gomez playing in behind,
Valencia
Gabriel Paulista misses out the first leg due to suspension. Ezequiel Garay is ruled out for the visitors due to injury. With that being said, Valencia should start with Eliaquim Mangala and Mouctar Diakhby as the centre-backs. Recent recruit Alessandro Florenzi could get to make his debut for the Spanish club. Rodrigo Moreno and Francis Coquelin are also in doubts to start and will be assessed prior to kickoff. Kevin Gameiro or Goncalo Guedes should be in charge of the attack.
ATN (Expected Playing 11)- Gollini; Toloi, Palomino, Djimsiti; Hateboer, Roon, Freuler, Gosens; Gomez; Ilicic, Zapata
VAL (Expected Playing 11)- Cillessen; Florenzi, Diakhaby, Mangala, Gaya; Torres, Parejo, Kondogbia, Soler; Gomez, Guedes
Josip Ilicic has been one of the frontline performers for Atalanta. Ilicic has bagged 14 goals, three assists and has a pass accuracy of 81.4% from 20 appearances in Serie A this season.
Daniel Parejo has been pivotal in midfield for Valencia. Parejo has six goals and three assists in the La Liga this season, while also having scored a goal and two assists from 540 minutes in the Champions League.
Mario Pasalic can play the anchor role from Atalanta‘s midfield. Pasalic has five goals and three assists in Serie A, while also having scored two goals from 450 minutes in the Champions League this season with a pass accuracy of 80%
Ferran Torres has been essential for Valencia. The 19-year-old has four goals, four assists in Serie A, as well as a goal and an assist from 301 minutes in the Champions League this season.
Considering that a few key players are ruled out due to injury for Valencia, Atalanta should be starting as the favourites in front of home support.
Goalkeeper– J Cillessen
Defenders- B Djimsiti, J L Palomino, A Florenzi
Midfielders- D Parejo (VC), Alejandro-Gomez, F Torres, M Pasalic
Forwards- D Zapata, J Ilici (C), M Gomez
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