Catania vs Atalanta preview - Atalanta chasing points milestone
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2014 by PA
Atalanta coach Stefano Colantuono has urged his players to cap what has been a fantastic season with a win at Catania on Sunday.
The Bergamaschi need only a point in Sicily to set a new club record in Serie A.
Colantuono's men beat AC Milan 2-1 last weekend to match the club's 50-point mark set in the 2006-07 campaign.
"We still have a game to go and it would be nice to finish off the campaign with a victory," Colantuono said.
"We played very well against AC Milan. We've enjoyed a very good season and now we hope to end the campaign in style by establishing a new club record."
Atalanta won six games on the trot to secure their top-flight status at the end of March.
The Bergamo outfit head into the final weekend in 11th place with 15 wins from 37 games.
"The important thing is that we have avoided the drop for a fourth consecutive campaign," Colantuono said.
"For us this is like winning the scudetto."
The Angelo Massimino stadium will be sold out as the city of Catania hosts its last Serie A match for the foreseeable future.
The Sicilian outfit were relegated to the second tier last weekend after eight successive seasons competing in Italy's top flight.
Catania won 2-1 at Bologna to record their first win away from home this campaign but Chievo's 1-0 triumph at Cagliari condemned the Sicilians to the second division.
Catania are 18th in the standings and unable to catch Chievo, who are four points above them and hold the last position of safety.
The islanders know they only have themselves to blame after a dismal campaign which has seen them win just seven times while losing 22 games.
"I apologise to our fans for our failure to defend our Serie A status," Catania striker Gonzalo Bergessio said.
"We did the best we could but it wasn't enough. We hope to return as soon as possible to Italy's top flight."
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