Giorgio Scalvini celebrated his return for Atalanta just 173 days after a serious knee injury and would not rule out a Scudetto push for this season. ‘We play with more quality now.’
La Dea continued their astounding form with a seventh Serie A win on the bounce, emerging 3-1 victors from the Stadio Tardini in Parma with goals from Mateo Retegui, Ederson and Ademola Lookman.
Matteo Cancellieri had got Parma back into it straight after the restart, but after two disallowed goals, Lookman managed to seal it at the back post.
The best news was the comeback for Scalvini as a substitute, ahead of schedule considering he underwent anterior cruciate ligament surgery on his knee in June.
“I am very happy to be back, these were very long and tough months with a lot of work. I couldn’t wait to be back on the pitch with my teammates,” Scalvini told Sky Sport Italia.
“I’ve been training with the squad for three or four weeks, stepping up the amount of work I do and it was wonderful to be back. Now we’ve got to keep pushing and I can hopefully get back to the fitness levels of my teammates.”
Atalanta welcomed Scalvini back
Scalvini is effectively a reinforcement for Atalanta, who have been struggling with absences in defence, and the Sky Sport Italia pundits joked with his curls and gentle manner that he is similar to Italian tennis champion Jannik Sinner.
Do Atalanta believe they can truly challenge for the Scudetto this season?
“We take it one game at a time. The coach always tells us to do that, because if our minds go elsewhere, we cannot focus 100 per cent on the task in hand. He is very good at making us concentrate and the results are coming.”
Atalanta are having their best ever start to a season with 28 points and 34 goals scored in the opening 13 rounds, so how have they improved from last term?
“This team always had a great deal of intensity, but perhaps more quality now than we used to, the way we play our way out of defence. We have also improved our defensive solidity, the coach has done great work.”
Scalvini was forced to miss EURO 2024 for Italy with that injury, but is considered one of Italy’s most promising talents for the future. He has a way of playing out from defence that is similar to Alessandro Bastoni, another Atalanta youth product, so where does that come from?
“It was fundamental that I came through the Atalanta youth academy, they teach you that from the very start and want to see players with confidence. That is why so many have made it through to the main team.”