Atalanta save Italy's European blushes and continue to show why they are Serie A's most improved team

There was a sense of dread heading into Wednesday night's Champions League games, as Italy faced the embarrassing prospect of having no representative in the competition's final 16. 

Following Inter's shock exit at the hands of this season's surprise package, Bodo/Glimt, both Atalanta and Juventus also trailed from their first legs and looked like joining the Nerazzurri in failing to progress. 

Juve, 5-2 down to Galatasaray, did put in a stirring effort as they took the tie to extra time, but the damage had already been done, and they were dumped out by the Turkish side, leaving the distinct possibility that no Serie A side would make the second round for the first time since 1987. 

But then, enter Atalanta. Who, against the odds, managed to keep the Serie A flag flying in this season's Champions League. 

Mission Dortmund 

Going into the play-off round, Atalanta's pairing with Borussia Dortmund looked like one of the more evenly matched encounters, but it was the Germans who took advantage in the first leg, coming away with a 2-0 win to defend back in Bergamo. 

It looked like a tall task for Raffaelle Palladino's men, who would need to turn around a tie against a team that has only lost once in the Bundesliga this season and remain a name of huge European pedigree. 

However, on a night full of drama, Le Dea pulled off one of the comebacks of the night to book their place in the Round of 16 and ultimately save the blushes of Serie A. 

A fast start was required, and the Italian's got exactly that. Gianluca Scamacca scored just after five minutes to set Atalanta on their way, and by the hour mark were 3-0 up and on their way through - but there was still a sting in the tail to come. 

Dortmund levelled the tie with 15 to play, and it looked headed for extra-time until the home side were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time. 

Ramy Bencebaini completed a miserable night, having been at fault for two of Atalanta's goals, by conceding the spot kick, which Lazar Samardžić coolly slotted home with the last kick of the game to send the New Balance Arena into raptures. 

Atalanta had completed the turnaround and continued the run they'd been on since Palladino took charge. 

The second coming 

Atalanta's rise in European football has been one of Italy's best stories in recent years. Under Gian Piero Gasperini, the team qualified for the Champions League for the first time and won the Europa League in 2024, but it looked as though that cycle would come to an end following the manager's departure for Roma last summer after a decade. 

Ivan Juric tookover from Gasperini, fresh from a dismal spell at Southampton and didn't last long. Despite some encouraging results in Europe, Atalanta struggled domestically and severely lacked a game plan, and so he was relieved of his duties in November and replaced by Rafaelle Palladino.

Last seen leading Fiorentina to European qualification - and looked at what's happened to them since - things started slowly under the new gaffer, but since the turn of the year, only Inter have a better record than the Bergamo side. 
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They are yet to lose a game in Serie A this calendar year and, having looked off the pace for much of the first half of the season, are now very much in the mix for a top-four finish, having beaten champions Napoli last weekend as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. 

Palladino has almost taken on the mantle from the previous era, giving the team a clear identity and continuing the model of trusting players who perhaps have something to prove and improving them as well as the team. 

Take top scorer Gianluca Scamaaca, for example, who has always looked like he has the tools to be a top striker but has found the way to utilise them in black and blue colours, and he's not the only one, with the likes of Mario Pašalić, Charles De Ketelaere and Davide Zappacosta also impressing this season. 

Aiming at the big boys 

What's next, then, for Italy's sole survivor in the Champions League? Well, games won't come much bigger than what's ahead in the Round of 16 for Palladino and co.

Paired with the seeded bracket with the competition's best-performing sides, Atalanta will either face Bayern Munich, yet to lose a game in the Bundesliga this season, or Arsenal, the only side in the Champions League to have won every one of their European games this term. 

They'll know whoever they draw, they'll go into it as the underdogs, but that's ok for Atalanta, because the pressure will be on one of the favourites to finally kill off Serie A's chances and roll on through to the quarter-finals. 

However, take heed of Italy's last team standing, because a trip to Bergamo won't be easy for either the Gunners or Bayern, and despite concerns over the league falling behind the rest of Europe's elite and beyond, Atalanta are proving it isn't time to say arrivederci to the Champions League for Italian sides just yet. 

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