Even though football has been 'back' for a few weeks, there was anticipation building for the return of Atalanta, who once again proved that they are the most fun side to watch in Europe.
The last time we saw the Italian side in action it was the Round of 16 of the Champions League when they were involved in a seven-goal thriller, winning 4-3 against Valencia at the Mestalla.
The long break doesn't appear to have impacted them, as they started where they left off by defeating Sassuolo 4-1, thanks to a goal from Berat Djimsiti, two from Duvan Zapata, and an own goal from Mehdi Bourabia.
For his two-goal haul, Zapata earned a FootballCritic rating of 8.8.
Atalanta were once again dazzling in the final third, firing no less than 13 shots on goal, even though they surrendered the majority of possession to Sassuolo.
Some amazing numbers:
- 74 goals scored in 26 matches
- 9th time they've scored four or more goals this season
- 15th time they've scored three or more goals
While teams like Manchester City, Bayern, and Borussia Dortmund are all superb footballing teams, their dominance over matches can sometimes leave the viewer a little disconnected.
That does not happen with Atalanta, who are so full of exuberance that you can't help be entertained, such as their extreme desire to rack up as many goals as possible in as many ways as possible.
The result against Sassuolo also came without their best player and possibly the best player of the entire Serie A season, Josip Ilicic, who has seven Man of the Match awards to his name.
Most League goals in Europe
| Teams | Goals | xG | Goals Per Game |
| 96 | 89.63 | 2.90 | |
| Atalanta | 74 | 67.35 | 2.85 |
| PSG | 75 | 76.42 | 2.77 |
| Dortmund | 84 | 64.13 | 2.54 |
| Man City | 71 | 75.82 | 2.45 |
Though Bayern just have the edge on the goals per game front, their vast resources compared to Atalanta needs to be taken into account as well. Should Atalanta continue at their current rate of 2.85 goals per match, they will reach a tally of 108 goals for the campaign, which is quite remarkable considering they have never been legitimately part of the race for the Scudetto.
At the moment they are fourth in Serie A, six points clear of Roma in second and once again looking good for Champions League qualification, while they are already confirmed participants in the mini-tournament to determine the winner of this year's competition in August in Lisbon.
At the rate they are finding the back of the net, nobody will fancy a draw against La Dea in the quarter-finals.
Josip Iličić 
Papu Gómez 
Mario Pašalić 
Bayern 
Dortmund 
Man City 
PSG 
