Atalanta and Sassuolo settled their official lineups before the 20.45 kickoff, and the first detail to jump out was Scalvini in the starting XI for Atalanta. Aquilani was on the bench for what the club listed as his first Serie A appearance as a coach, while the match was set to go live on DAZN.
That mattered because the fixture arrived with one side carrying a long season-opener habit and the other trying to keep one going. Sassuolo had lost its last three Serie A openers without scoring and had conceded at least two goals in each of them, while Atalanta came in unbeaten in its last eight, with seven wins and a draw. The numbers framed the match before a ball was kicked: Atalanta had scored 22 goals across those eight openers and conceded six.
The team sheets confirmed the shape of the night. Sassuolo named Muric, Cinquegrano, Odenthal, Macchioni, Doig, Bakola, Matic, Adzic, Volpato, Bowie and Laurientè, while Atalanta went with Carnesecchi, Zappacosta, Kossounou, Scalvini, Bernasconi, Ederson, Gaetano, Pasalic, Zalewski, Scamacca and Raspadori. The officials were also set, with Valerio Crezzini of the Siena section in charge, Filippo Meli of Parma and Domenico Fontemurato of Roma 2 as assistants, Luca Pairetto of Nichelino as fourth official, Antonio Giua of Olbia on VAR and Lorenzo Maggioni of Lecco as AVAR.
There was, though, one line that did not sit neatly with the rest. Sassuolo’s pre-match note put Berardi, Pinamonti and Thorsvedt out because of injuries and transfer-market matters, yet Thorsvedt was also declared available by the coach. That leaves the practical reading clear enough: he was available in principle, but not in the matchday setup that mattered once the final list was posted. For Scalvini, the decision was more straightforward. He had been injured in Atalanta’s 0-0 draw with Hapoel Tel Aviv, and his return to the starting XI underlined how quickly the focus had shifted from recovery to competition.
The match itself was about to answer the only question that counts after lineups are released: whether Atalanta could turn its opening-day record into another result, or whether Sassuolo could finally break the run that had left it scoreless in three straight season openers. With the teams named and kickoff next at 20.45, the conversation moved from paper to the pitch.
