Roma and Atalanta named their official lineups at the Olimpico on Sunday, setting up a meeting that could redraw the race for Europe. Raffaele Palladino faced Gian Piero Gasperini in a match presented as crucial to both clubs’ push for the Champions League places.
Roma lined up in a 3-4-2-1 with Mile Svilar in goal and Gianluca Mancini, Evan Ndicka and Mario Hermoso across the back. Zeki Çelik, Bryan Cristante, Neil El Aynaoui and Devyne Rensch were in midfield, with Matias Soulé and Stephan El Shaarawy supporting Malen. Atalanta also went with a 3-4-2-1, with Marco Carnesecchi behind Giorgio Scalvini, Berat Djimsiti and Sead Kolasinac, while Raoul Bellanova, Marten de Roon, Ederson and Davide Zappacosta started in the middle and Charles De Ketelaere and Giacomo Raspadori played behind Nikola Krstovic.
The benches underlined the options available to both coaches. Roma named De Marzi, Gollini, Angelino, Tsimikas, Venturino, Ziolkowski, Pisilli, Vaz, Ghilardi and Zaragoza among their substitutes, while Atalanta listed Pardel, Sportiello, Kossounou, Bakker, Musah, Pasalic, Scamacca, Samardzic, Obric, Bernasconi, Zalewski and Ahanor. The source said Kolasinac and Scalvini were alongside Djimsiti in defense for Atalanta, and that Raspadori returned to support Krstovic with De Ketelaere.
The game arrived with the table still compressed. A Roma win would bring Atalanta to within one point of fourth place, while a draw would leave Roma level on 58 points and Atalanta four points behind on 54. Earlier in the day, Como had lost 2-1 at Sassuolo, and on April 6 Atalanta had drawn 1-1 at Lecce on Pasquetta.
Gasperini came in after turbulent days in Rome and amid heavy absences in the squad, while Palladino turned 42 in the week before kickoff and had been able to work through full training weeks since January 16. He also arrived after that 1-1 draw at Lecce. For both sides, the lineups made the message plain: this was not a routine league match, but a direct test of who can keep pace when the European places are this tight.
