serie a preview: reggina - atalanta
 
who: reggina v atalanta
when: sunday, 265th august 2007, kick-off 15:00 (cet)
where: stadio oreste granillo, reggio calabria
 
no more miracles

reggina were definitely the revelation squad of last season after incredibly enough succeeding in overcoming an 11 point deficit at the start of the season to avoid the drop to serie b on the last matchday of serie a by beating newly crowned european champions milan.

however this time round, even thought the amaranti start on level points with the rest of the teams, things do not look very positive as the reggio calabria side sold some important  players during this past summer and it is unlikely that the squad will manage to make up for these losses.

probably the biggest loss is that of coach walter mazzarri who did wonders last season, therefore reggina are prime candidates to be relegated this year from the topflight.

all to discover

atalanta are a team which carry many question marks. under new coach gigi delneri, the bergamaschi will be hoping that the former chievo verona coach will bring in some of his magic which helped the flying donkeys to some excellent seasons in the past years.

langella has been an interesting addition to the side and will surely prove important when combined with doni in midfield. all in all atalanta could well be a very tough team to face and end up placing high in the season, but on the other hand, the bergamaschi could flop and end up being one of the biggest disappointments of this season.

form guide

reggina
reggina - milan      2 - 0      27/05/2007      italian serie a
empoli - reggina     3 - 3     20/05/2007     italian serie a
reggina - chievo     1 - 1     13/05/2007     italian serie a
sampdoria - reggina     0 - 0     06/05/2007     italian serie a
ascoli - reggina     2 - 3     29/04/2007     italian serie a
reggina - udinese     1 - 1     22/04/2007     italian serie a

atalanta
deportivo - atalanta      8 - 7      07/08/2007      friendly club
livorno - atalanta     4 - 2     27/05/2007     italian serie a
atalanta - inter         1 - 1     20/05/2007     italian serie a
udinese - atalanta     2 - 3     13/05/2007     italian serie a
atalanta - siena     3 - 1     06/05/2007     italian serie a
messina - atalanta     0 - 0     29/04/2007     italian serie a

team news

reggina
the only missing player for reggina is garcia who is recovering from a minor knee injury, otherwise the amaranti have no suspended players.

reggina (4-3-3): campagnolo; lanzaro, valdez, aronica, modesto; barreto, cascione, hallfredsson; cozza, joelson, amoruso

atalanta
atalanta have no injury worries but will be without the suspended manfredini who will be out till the 1st of november.

atalanta (4-4-1-1): coppola; rivalta, talamonti, carrozzieri, bellini; ferreira pinto, de ascentis, tissone, langella; doni; zampagna

players to watch

amoruso (reggina)
will he be able to repeat last season’s phenomenal performances without his attack partner rolando bianchi?  difficult to imagine, but if amoruso fails to deliver, then it is going to be a very difficult season for reggina.

zampagna (atalanta)
without vieri and ventola, he is the main striker of the bergamaschi now. the veteran striker can still prove his worth at this stage of his career, but probably his finishing touch will not be the same as before.

prediction

two teams which cannot really aim high this season. at this point it is difficult to gauge the strength of either side, but on paper atalanta seem like a more solid squad and have a chance of taking home all three points here.

reggina 1 – 2 atalanta