Competitive Lottery 001: One team rotates all main players! Evening Europa League, Atalanta's midfield barrier is out for the season!
Sun, Jul 19 2026
Competitive Lottery 001: One team rotates all main players! Evening Europa League, Atalanta's midfield barrier is out for the season!
In the upcoming J.League Cup match, Tokyo Verdy is set to face Sanfrecce Hiroshima on May 22, 2024, at 18:00. Tokyo Verdy's head coach has revealed a bold rotation plan ahead of the match:
"I will give a chance to those players who have been consistently training and waiting for an opportunity," and the manager also made it clear that there could be a full rotation of the starters like in the last match against Kagoshima United.
In the last J.League 3 match, Tokyo Verdy's starting 11 players were all rotated, with none retained. For this match, some young and promising players like Masato Furukawa—a 22-year-old who has just graduated from university, Takehiro Yamamoto who has just moved up from the U18, and other rotational players like Yuto Tsunashima and Kouhei Yamagoshi are expected to have a chance to play.
In the subsequent Europa League, Atalanta is set to face Bayer Leverkusen on May 23, 2024, at 3:00. Unfortunately, they will be missing the core of their midfield defense:
Atalanta's captain Marten de Roon has been injured in the Coppa Italia final and is confirmed to miss the rest of the season.
De Roon plays the role of midfield watchdog for Atalanta, started in 45 matches this season for the team, and contributed 5 assists. He also started 11 of those games in the Europa League. In his absence, Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic may step in to fill his boots, or possibly Kupmeiners could drop back to act as a makeshift midfielder. However, de Roon’s absence will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the strength of the team's midfield defense.
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