Fabio Capello has likened Gian Piero Gasperini’s Serie A top scorers to the thrilling Dutch side in the way they commit to one-on-one battles all over the pitch

A lesser team would have broken. On 15 April, Atalanta played out one of the most imbalanced draws in Serie A history: a goalless stalemate at home to Empoli in which they produced 47 shots to their opponents’ three. Eighteen went on target. The last Serie A club to rack up so many attempts on goal in a single game were Roma, against Catania in 2006, in a game they won 7-0.

At full time, Atalanta’s players crumpled to the floor. The draw had cost them a share of fourth place, dropping them to sixth with six games to play. Next up was an away game against Napoli, with visits to Lazio and Juventus still to come.

It felt like the moment when reality catches up to the underdog. Atalanta are not built to compete for a Champions League berth. Their wage bill at the start of this season, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, was the 14th-largest in Serie A: roughly one-eighth the size of Juventus’s. The city they represent, Bergamo, is home to a modest 120,000 people.

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They had punched above their weight all season, as they have consistently since Gian Piero Gasperini took over as manager in 2016. Few expected them to pick themselves up from the emotional let-down of that draw against Empoli and continue to defy the odds. And yet, they have. Atalanta conceded first against Napoli, but came back to win 2-1. They fbeat Fiorentina to secure a place in the Coppa Italia final, and closed out April with a 2-0 win at home to Udinese that – coupled with Milan’s defeat to Torino last weekend – vaulted them back into fourth.

On Sunday Atalanta travelled to Lazio – direct rivals in the European race. Once again, Gasperini’s team fell behind early. Marco Parolo followed his own deflected cross into the penalty area in the third minute, taking a knockdown from Felipe Caicedo and powering the ball home.

Lazio remained on the front foot and the Atalanta keeper Pierluigi Gollini did well to thwart Ciro Immobile. But Duván Zapata equalised in the 23rd minute, punishing Lazio for affording him too much space inside the box, and his team never looked back.

The hosts were dominating possession, yet the visitors were the only ones creating chances on goal. Josip Ilicic fired wide from six yards, before being denied from a similar distance by Thomas Strakosha. No matter. Atalanta continued to press high, and in the 58th minute forced an error from the Lazio defender Wallace. He passed the ball straight to Papu Gómez, who cut it back for Timothy Castagne to score.

Even with a lead, Atalanta refused to sit back. They made it 3-1 from a corner in the 76th minute, Wallace deflecting into his own goal. That completed a nightmarish afternoon for the Brazilian, who had been responsible for losing Zapata on the visitors’ first goal as well. His mistakes had eased Atalanta’s path to victory, yet they were authors of their own success. No other Serie A team has played with such consistent courage this season: applying constant pressure on the ball and attacking as a team even if that means leaving themselves open at the back.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wallace (top right) scores an own goal under pressure from Atalanta’s Berat Djimsiti. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

Fabio Capello likened them recently to Ajax – observing how both teams commit players to one-on-one battles all over the pitch: embracing the risk and reward. It is a philosophy that Gasperini has followed since his second stint at Genoa, where he experienced a Eureka moment as he prepared for a game against Juventus.

“Up to that point, retaining numerical superiority in defence was a dogma,” he told Gazzetta last November. “But I had [Nicolás] Burdisso, a really strong marker. I left him and [Sebastien] De Maio against [Carlos] Tevez and [Fernando] Llorente. They played a fantastic match, and I gained a spare man that I could commit to tactical manoeuvres. It was worth the risk. The Atalanta defenders you see attacking constantly today were born from that intuition.”

Atalanta have scored 71 goals in 35 games: most in the division. They have taken more touches in opponents’ penalty areas (and it’s not close) than any other side: a statistic which reflects both a habit for dominating opponents and the fact they are often winning back possession in advanced positions.

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Gasperini has shown himself capable of getting the most out of both developing young talent and older players who had never quite fulfilled their potential elsewhere. Ilicic, 31, has played the best football of his career over the past two seasons. Zapata, 28, had never scored more than 11 goals in a Serie A season, and now has 22 in this campaign – two shy of the club record set by Pippo Inzaghi.

Gasperini saw something in Zapata that no previous coach had: recognising that despite his size and strength he could be more effective running at goal than playing as a targetman. A willingness to experiment with players’ roles has been decisive. Against Udinese, Marten de Roon started in central midfield, dropped in at centre-back, then moved forward again and scored the penalty that broke the deadlock.

Victory this weekend tightened Atalanta’s grip on fourth. Lazio, seven points and four places behind, are effectively out of contention. The gap to fifth-placed Roma, who drew with Genoa, is three points.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gian Piero Gasperini celebrates a crucial victory in the Rome rain. Photograph: Riccardo Antimiani/AP

Milan can move within the same distance if they can beat Bologna on Monday night. Nothing about their form, though, suggests they are ready to keep pace. Milan have five points from their past seven games. Atalanta are unbeaten in 12 across all competitions.

They will return to Rome to face Lazio again in the Coppa Italia final in 10 days’ time. To win it would be a landmark achievement for a club that last lifted the trophy in 1963. Yet so would qualifying for the Champions League.

“We are going for all of it,” said Zapata when asked which objective mattered more to him and his teammates. “We are going for everything that we can have, and that is how we must continue. There is no middle road.”

Talking points

• Atalanta’s final games, by the way, are against Genoa (h), Juventus (a) and Sassuolo (h). The home games, however, will not be played at their usual stadium due to construction work on the north stand. They will instead play at Sassuolo’s Mapei Stadium, two hours away. Not that this is likely to dampen the enthusiasm of supporters, 4,000 of whom were waiting to welcome their team home with fireworks at the club’s training ground on Sunday.

• Atalanta’s win, and Roma’s draw, made good news for Inter, who drew 0-0 at Udinese. Six points from their final three games would guarantee a top-f0ur spot. Their next opponents, Chievo, are already down, and there is every chance that Empoli might be by the time they meet on the final weekend.

• Cristiano Ronaldo rescued Juventus from defeat in the derby, but his hopes of finishing as capocannoniere are fading. Fabio Quagliarella scored twice in Sampdoria’s 3-3 draw with Parma, and sits top of the scoring charts with 25 goals. Ronaldo is third, on 21.