Arsenal are set to begin their Champions League campaign in Italy, as they will face Serie A side Atalanta in Bergamo.
Atalanta secured their spot in the Champions League this season in style, as they won the Europa League with a shock 3-0 victory over Granit Xhaka’s Bayer Leverkusen in the final in Dublin.
Reported Arsenal target Ademola Lookman scored a stunning hattrick which brought Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to an end, whilst former Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac also started the game for Atalanta.
The Bosnian departed Arsenal in January 2022 after falling down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta. He initially moved to Marseille, before moving to Serie A with Atalanta in 2023.
He has since become an important player for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, and ahead of his reunion with Arsenal, he has praised his former manager and team.
Sead Kolasinac praises Arsenal ahead of Champions League reunion
Speaking in a press conference ahead of Atalanta’s clash with Arsenal, Kolasinac praised Arteta and his team, and admitted that they will not be easy to beat.
“Happy to see my old comrades again. Always complicated to face English teams, but we prepared well,” he stated.
“Against Fiorentina we discovered the special atmosphere of the new stadium, we can’t wait to find our fans in the Champions League. I tried to help Atalanta from the start, both from the field and off the field.
“To play the Champions League it’s important to enjoy the chances, as it did in the Europa League last year.
“Arsenal won the derby of North London and has great solid players in defence. We have studied them. They are young and strong, but so are we. Mikel Arteta, a great coach, is doing a great job.”
How Sead Kolasinac reinvented himself at Atalanta
Kolasinac was typically an attacking left-back at Arsenal, but whilst he could contribute going forward, his defensive vulnerabilities became a problem under Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Arteta.
The arrival of Kieran Tierney pushed Kolasinac down the pecking order, before he eventually went on loan to Schalke, then left permanently for Marseille.
It has been a different story at Atalanta, as he now plays as a centre-back in a back-three formation. Gasperini’s side play on the front foot and press high up the pitch, but Kolasinac offers them physicality in the back line as a solid base, and he is thriving in Serie A.
It will be interesting to see how Arsenal’s attackers fare against Kolasinac, with Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes the only players to have featured alongside him on more than one occasion.
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