Giacomo Raspadori injured scares even Gattuso’s national team

Giacomo Raspadori scares Atalanta, but also Gennaro Gattuso’s national team. The Emilia striker was one of the few jarring notes of last Saturday&#8217s trip to Orobica, with a victory on the Lazio pitch and overtaking Como in the Serie A standings. The former Napoli striker in fact played only a few minutes at the Olimpico, however, coming off with an injury. And meanwhile, the’results of instrumental examinations have established his period of absence from the playing fields. That will also have an effect on Italy’s path to the 2026 World Cup.

Marco Enzo Venturini

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Raspadori has in fact suffered a first-degree strain in his left flexor, a physical inconvenience that will force him to stop playing for at least three weeks. A time frame that also creates inevitable headaches for coach Gattuso. Italy will have to play precisely in Bergamo against Northern Ireland next March 26. A time frame that could allow the recovery of a player potentially very useful to the Azzurri cause. Everything, however, will depend on his response to the injury in the weeks to come.

In the meantime, the cat out of the bag is all about Raffaele Palladino. Indeed, Atalanta is already doing without Charles De Ketelaere, who has just returned from an operation for an injury to the posterior horn of the right internal meniscus. With Gianluca Scamacca in turn not at his best (the Roman striker is struggling with a hip contusion) and Raspadori unavailable, offensive solutions are starting to run short. And as early as Tuesday, Feb. 17, comes a pivotal appointment in the Nerazzurri season: the trip to Germany for the first leg of the Champions League playoffs against the highly feared Borussia Dortmund.

The team will be in the midst of a new challenge.

In addition to the match against Borussia Dortmund, Raspadori will surely miss Atalanta’s matches against Napoli and Sassuolo in Serie A, but also the semifinal first leg of the Coppa Italia against Lazio itself. Big goal then becomes to be back at Palladino’s disposal against Udinese in Bergamo or at most in San Siro against Inter. Not forgetting Italy-Northern Ireland, the real crossroads of tricolor soccer as far as 2026 and beyond is concerned.

Transferred to Atalanta from Atletico Madrid on Jan. 15, Raspadori was paid about 20 million euros by the Orobic club. Already on the field the next day against Pisa, he scored his first Nerazzurri goal on Jan. 25, contributing to Dea’s 4-0 win over Parma at the New Balance Arena.