Atalanta host Kairat in Conference League amid five-match winless run
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Atalanta face Kairat Almaty in Conference League Matchday 3 at home on Nov 5.
Both sides are winless in six, putting Sarri's Atalanta slump under scrutiny.
Background
Atalanta are the Serie A club from Bergamo, coached by Maurizio Sarri, and Kairat Almaty are the Kazakh champions now managed by Zhora Arutyunyan after Rafael Urazbakhtin's sudden resignation. Atalanta enter the game on a five-match winless run, having conceded in ten consecutive matches, and a 3-0 home Serie A loss to Parma prompted Sarri to criticise his players' mentality and take the squad into a ritiro (a training retreat). Kairat have gone six games without a win and lost 5-1 at home to Panathinaikos on Matchday 2. The two clubs have never met before.
How it unfolded
- Oct 15, 2026Atalanta beat Paphos 3-1 at home in Conference League Matchday 1, while Kairat drew 1-1 away to Riga.
- Oct 22, 2026Atalanta lost 2-0 away to Ajax in Matchday 2; Kairat were beaten 5-1 at home by Panathinaikos.
- Oct 31, 2026Kairat drew 1-1 with FK Altay in the Kazakhstan Premier League.
- Nov 2, 2026Atalanta lost 0-3 at home to Parma in Serie A, prompting Sarri to criticise his players' mentality and a ritiro.
- Nov 5, 2026Atalanta host Kairat in Conference League Matchday 3, kicking off 17:45 GMT at the New Balance Arena/Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia in Bergamo, with Julian Weinberger (AUT) as referee. Atalanta named a 22-man squad with seven U23 players and eight players out injured; Gianluca Scamacca returns from injury to lead the attack.
Key terms
- Conference League
- An annual European club football competition organized by UEFA since 2021, ranking as the third tier below the Europa League and Champions League.
- Serie A
- The top professional association football league in Italy, established in 1929 and operating with promotion and relegation to Serie B.
- ritiro
- An organized period of rigorous training for athletes to prepare for events or improve skills and strategies.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- Football Italia says Atalanta are in crisis and badly need a victory, adding that Sarri could risk the sack after two points from the last six competitive matches.
- Bulls
- Transfermarkt and ToffeeWeb both recommend a home win for Atalanta, at best prices of 1.19 and 1.17 respectively, and Squawka and Sports Mole predict 3-0 and 2-0 Atalanta wins.
Still unverified
Transfermarkt lists the referee as unknown, while other sources name Julian Weinberger; Sports Mole says Franck Kessie, Sead Kolasinac, Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca are believed to be touch-and-go for Atalanta.