Nicolò Zaniolo made his debut in the Atalanta jersey, but it was otherwise a disastrous evening with a 4-1 defeat to Parma and injury to Gianluca Scamacca.
La Dea start their season earlier than most, as they face Real Madrid in the UEFA European Super Cup on August 14.
Coach Gian Piero Gasperini was visibly furious during the first cooling break of their friendly test with newly-promoted Serie A side Parma at the Stadio Tardini, asking his men “how the **** are we playing?!”
They were already trailing 2-1 at the time, but went on to suffer a painful 4-1 loss.
Romania international Dennis Man opened the scoring with a smart solo effort, before Ange-Yoan Bonny doubled their lead on Coulibaly’s assist.
Atalanta got one back with Ademola Lookman’s pace, but there was a huge scare when Scamacca landed awkwardly and seemed to badly sprain his left knee.
He was carried off and tests will be needed to see if there is any ligament damage.
Parma also had a scare, losing midfielder Hernani to a muscular injury, but ran riot with Man completing his brace and Partipilo’s lob.
Zaniolo made his debut for La Dea coming off the bench late on, along with Teun Koopmeiners.
𝐄̀ 𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢 𝐙𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨⚫️🔵
Esordio con la maglia dell’ #Atalanta per il nuovo acquisto della Dea Nicolò #Zaniolo ‼️⚽️ #Sportitalia pic.twitter.com/GLjjNWfSsD
— Sportitalia (@tvdellosport) August 4, 2024
Parma 4-1 Atalanta
Man 6, 51 (P), Bonny 29 (P), Lookman 33 (A), Partipilo 77 (P)
Parma: Suzuki, Balogh, Bonny, Valeri, Delprato, Sohm, Cyprien, Coulibaly, Hernani, Mihaila, Man
Atalanta: Musso; Godfrey, Hien, Djimsiti; Palestra, De Roon, Sulemana, Ruggeri; Pasalic; Scamacca, Lookman