Atalanta: Sarri at risk and under scrutiny

For the Italian-American owners, the Conference League matters deeply. So far, it is the competition in which Atalanta have best put the Tuscan manager's ideas into practice, even as the team seem to have lost their sense of certainty since Gasperini's departure.

Their 3-1 win over Pafos was their best performance of the season, judging by what they showed on the pitch. It was a positive sign, but it was not enough to dispel the doubts raised by their other performances this season.

Stephen Pagliuca and the Percassi family, who each hold practically 50% of the club's current ownership, are unhappy above all with league form that has fallen well short of expectations.

That leaves Sarri no room for further mistakes: first Ajax in the Conference League, then Frosinone. In two difficult fixtures, he must deliver concrete answers and try to turn things around before assessments of his future take on even greater importance.

For now, Sarri's position in the dugout rests on at least two factors. The first is the Percassi family's desire to avoid another season spent playing catch-up like last season.

More importantly, Sarri has a contract worth €3.5 million per season for the next three years, which would make dismissing him particularly costly.

A change in the dugout would therefore be neither a simple nor an immediate decision for Giuntoli and the owners. But the Tuscan manager's room for manoeuvre is narrowing. He needs convincing results and performances to put speculation about his future to rest, starting with the next two matches.