Atalanta fielded a heavily rotated squad in their goalless draw against Cagliari in Serie A on Saturday afternoon, as Gian Piero Gasperini opted to rest key players ahead of their crucial Champions League clash with Club Brugge.
Following their controversial 2-1 defeat to the Belgian side on Wednesday, Gasperini made notable changes, leaving out Marten De Roon, Ederson, and Charles De Ketelaere from the starting lineup.
Despite dominating possession in the opening 45 minutes, Atalanta struggled to create clear-cut chances. The only shot on target came from Lazar Samardzic, who nearly capitalized on an errant pass from Elia Caprile.
The Atalanta midfielder attempted a curling effort towards the near post from the edge of the box, but the Cagliari goalkeeper reacted well to make the save.
Rafael Toloi, given a rare Serie A start, also tried his luck from distance, but his shot failed to trouble Caprile, sailing high and wide.
La Dea ended the first half with 65% possession but lacked a decisive breakthrough.
An hour into the match, Atalanta thought they had finally broken the deadlock when Marco Brescianini tapped the ball into an empty net from a corner.
However, the referee quickly ruled the goal out for a foul by Stefan Posch on Caprile. Although Atalanta players protested the decision, VAR could not intervene since the call did not meet the threshold for a clear and obvious error.
In an effort to shake things up, Gasperini introduced both youthful energy and experienced heads in the second half, bringing on Marco Palestra, Vanja Vlahovic, Charles De Ketelaere, Ederson, and Marten De Roon. However, none of them could tilt the game in Atalanta’s favor.
Cagliari began to show more attacking intent in the latter stages, launching a flurry of crosses in quick succession and testing Atalanta’s defense with a dangerous free-kick from Tommaso Augello, which eventually went out for a goal kick.
The home side had brief penalty appeals around the 80th minute, but despite potential contact from Augello, his arm position and lack of reaction time led the referee to wave away the protests.
In the final moments, Atalanta created their best opportunities of the game. De Ketelaere saw his effort from the center of the box blocked by Yerry Mina, while young Serbian forward Vlahovic forced Caprile into an important late save.
Ultimately, neither side could find a breakthrough, leaving Atalanta to settle for a point as they turned their attention to their crucial European fixture in midweek.
