Atalanta vs Roma: Sarri Prepares for Key Test

Atalanta have wasted no time announcing themselves this season. Two games at the Gewiss Stadium, two wins, six points, and a place alongside Roma at the top of the table.

They eased past Sassuolo first. Then came Bologna, and that one needed nerves of steel. The match seemed destined to slip away until the final moments, when Samardzic stepped up and settled it with a late strike that sent the stadium into a roar and pushed Atalanta level with the Giallorossi.

Now comes the real examination.

Sarri sounds the alarm

From the Zingonia training center, Maurizio Sarri cut a realistic, slightly concerned figure as he looked ahead to the showdown with Roma.

“Malen is in great form and will be a problem for the entire match,” he warned, underlining the individual threat his side will have to contain. Preparation, he insisted, has followed the usual path, but the schedule is already biting.

“We've prepared normally; we're the only team in Italy that plays five games in sixteen days tomorrow, but we're having a few issues. Our growth has undoubtedly slowed.”

That fixture congestion hangs over everything. Atalanta arrive with momentum, but Sarri knows heavy legs and minor problems can quickly turn a bright start into a complicated month.

Respect for Roma’s title credentials

If there was any doubt about how he views the next opponent, Sarri removed it in a few sharp lines.

“They were strong and have become even stronger,” he said of Roma. “They will fight for the Scudetto until the end, and I'd be surprised if the opposite happened.”

It is a clear message. Atalanta may have started perfectly at home, but Roma, in Sarri’s eyes, are built to go the distance.

So the stage is set: an Atalanta side riding the high of a last‑gasp winner against Bologna, facing a Roma team their own coach openly backs as title contenders. Early in the season or not, this feels like the kind of match that tells you who’s really ready to stay at the top.