A club founded in 1907 by Swiss students in the gym of a public high school named Liceo Classico, located in a small provincial city of Bergamo, 25 miles northeast of Milan, is currently punching above its weight in world football.

The Italian club is sitting in third on the Serie A league log. They face Juventus tonight in Turin with the aim of strengthening their position for Champions League football next season or perhaps better it by finishing in second. But what has accounted for Atalanta's uprise in such a short period of time?.

 Recruitment is spot on

For the club to be successful, it tremendously hinges on the recruitment, the type of players coming in, and those departing and Atalanta have barely put a foot wrong in that department.

Led by Director of football, Gabriele Zamagna, they have broken their transfer record on a number of occasions. Midfielder Martin de Roon, who is crucial to the squad was bought for €14.32m euros in 2017. Subsequent signings such as Malinovskiy, Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel are all transfer record signings.

Their recruitment process that you don't need to to spend big in order to attain success, instead you need to know what you need and where to find them.

They've also sold players who are more or less gone off the boil like Boukary Drame, Cristiano Del Grosso, Matteo Contini and Alberto Paloschi. Young players were also cashed in for huge profits (Frank Kessie, Andrea Conti, Leonardo Spinazzola) and others.

Central to this philosophy is Papu Gomez, the 5ft4 magician who is shorter than Lionel Messi, in attacking midfield links up play brilliantly and uses his low centre of gravity to go past players and deliver high-quality service to the front men. The plain sailing 8-4 aggregate triumph over Valencia in the Champions League was a great testament of how they play and score.

Juventus vs Atalanta preview

Fresh from their shock defeat in midweek against AC Milan, Juventus will be desperate to return to winning ways against high-flying Atalanta BC at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

The Old Lady suffered a 4-2 defeat at AC Milan on Tuesday night, but the away team attained nine Serie A victories on the bounce.

Gian Piero Gasperini's side finished third in Serie A last season, but they will certainly have their eyes on second at this stage and could even challenge for the title if they beat Juve tonight. 

However, the Bianconeri's are very much in control of their own destiny, currently sitting seven points clear of second-placed Lazio and nine clear of third-placed Atalanta.

Therefore is highly unlikely for Juve to lose their grip on the Scudetto but Atalanta have a chance of securing the second spot as they are two points shy.

More to expect from Atalanta will only get better in the coming years.

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