Atalanta return to the European stage after a year away with a home tie against Polish champions Rakow Czestochowa in the Europa League on Thursday night at the Gewiss Stadium. Limited capacities, stadium refurbishment and an outright ban on supporters at grounds has meant very few of the Atalanta faithful have been able to witness their incredible recent European journeys in the flesh, but they should be out in full force here. Atalanta have had a mixed start to their Serie A campaign. Atalanta lost 3-2 to Fiorentina in their last game. Goals from Teun Koopmeiners and Ademola Lookman were unable to save them from a fourth defeat in six games against the Viola. Meanwhile, Rakow are making their debut in a continental tournament. Initially targeting a spot in the Champions League group stage, the visitors saw off Flora, Qarabag and Aris Limassol in the first three rounds of the qualifiers before losing to Copenhagen in the playoff round. They are coming into this game on the back of victory over LKS Lodz in their last outing in the Polish domestic league. For this encounter, I am expecting a win for Atalanta for the following reasons:

Firstly. Atalanta return to the Europa League on the back of a losing trip to Florence this past weekend. Falling to a 3:2 loss, La Dea have now lost back-to-back road games against Frosinone and Fiorentina. While usually stronger on their travels, Atalanta have improved their home form in 2023. They have won five of their previous six home matches since the back end of last season. Atalanta also scored at least three goals in all five victories. In this competition, the Italians have lost just one of ten previous home matches since 2017, and they will fancy their chances of another win against an opponent making their debut in the Europa League.

Secondly. The Polish champions for the first time dropped down to the Europa League after a narrow 2:1 aggregate loss against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League playoffs in August. Since that disappointment, the Poles have won back-to-back domestic games. However, on Rakow's European debut, they have been handed an unenviable task of trying to take down two of Europe's finest club sides. It will be a very high task to expect much from them against a team that arr quite much superior to them in quality and in European pedigree.

Gasperini's ultra-attacking style of play very rarely changes, and it does not need to, given the success they have had. Rakow may have performed heroically in Champions League qualifying and have started well domestically, but they are likely to struggle to contain Atalanta's fearsome attack. I am expecting a win by at least two goals margin for Atalanta tonight.

亚特兰大在离开欧洲一年后重返欧洲赛场，他们将在周四晚上的欧联杯主场迎战波兰冠军拉科夫切斯托霍瓦。有限的容量，体育场的翻新和完全禁止球迷进入球场意味着很少有亚特兰大的忠实球迷能够亲眼目睹他们最近令人难以置信的欧洲之旅，但他们应该在这里全力出场。亚特兰大在意甲联赛中开局好坏参半。亚特兰大在上一场比赛中以3比2输给了佛罗伦萨。图恩·库梅纳斯和阿德莫拉·卢克曼的进球没能挽救他们在与紫紫的六场比赛中第四次失利的命运。与此同时，Rakow将首次参加洲际锦标赛。客队最初的目标是进入欧冠小组赛，他们在预选赛的前三轮淘汰了弗洛拉、卡拉巴格和阿里斯·利马索尔，最后在附加赛中输给了哥本哈根。他们在波兰国内联赛的最后一场比赛中战胜了LKS Lodz。对于这场比赛，我希望亚特兰大能赢，原因如下:

首先。亚特兰大在上周末输给佛罗伦萨后重返欧联杯。以3:2的比分输掉比赛后，拉迪亚已经连续输掉了对弗罗西诺内和佛罗伦萨的客场比赛。虽然亚特兰大通常在客场表现更强，但他们在2023年的主场表现有所改善。自上个赛季末以来，他们在之前的6场主场比赛中赢了5场。亚特兰大也在所有五场胜利中至少打入3球。在这项比赛中，意大利人自2017年以来只输掉了10场主场比赛中的一场，他们很有可能再次战胜首次参加欧联杯的对手。

其次。这支波兰冠军球队在8月份的欧冠联赛季后赛中以2:1的总比分输给了哥本哈根足球俱乐部，这是他们首次进入欧联杯。在那次失望之后，波兰人连续赢得了国内比赛。然而，在拉科夫的欧洲首秀上，他们被交给了一个不令人羡慕的任务，那就是试图击败欧洲最好的两支球队。面对一支在实力和欧洲血统上都比他们强得多的球队，要对他们寄予厚望将是一项非常艰巨的任务。

加斯佩里尼的超级进攻风格很少改变，考虑到他们已经取得的成功，也不需要改变。拉科夫可能在欧冠预选赛中表现英勇，国内开局也不错，但他们可能很难遏制亚特兰大可怕的进攻。我希望亚特兰大今晚能以至少两球的优势取胜。