Parma, 6 May 2021 – It was not the strong Atalanta side of today, who participate in the Champions League and have been one of the dominant forces in Serie A for some time, but during the 2000/01 season the Bergamo team were temporarily in second place in the table.

That evening, on Saturday 2 December 2000, on the ninth matchday of the championship, at Stadio Ennio Tardini, despite being defeated by a solid Parma side, they proved worthy of their league position.

The Neroblu team, which was coached at the time by Giovanni Vavassori, put in a bold performance playing nice football and creating several opportunities, but it was not as pragmatic as ours.

Partly due to their own mistakes and partly due to our goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s decisive interventions on former player Maurizio Ganz and on Cristian Zenoni, we ran out winners with a classic 2-0 scoreline.

It was the result of a nice but somewhat fortunate right-footed shot from just outside the six-yard box by Sabri Lamouchi, and of one of several long shots attempted by our players, this time by Sergio Conceicao.

Lamouchi opened the scoring in the 18th minute from near the penalty spot, slotting home a cross from the right-hand side into the corner of the net (1-0).

The second came towards the end of the match, in minute 82′, as the Portuguese attacking midfielder Conceicao unleashed a powerful and precise shot with his left from the edge of the area.

The ball, hit with flawless trajectory, ended up in the corner of the goal to the left of goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli (2-0).

At the end of that year, Parma finished fourth, while Atalanta finished seventh.

This is the Crociati History of Parma vs. Atalanta that we enjoyed recalling on the eve of their next meeting in the league, scheduled for Sunday 9 May (15:00 CEST), at the Tardini for the 35th Matchday of Serie A Tim 2020/2021.

In the header: Johan Micoud in action, marked by Massimo Donati of Atalanta. In the photos: Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro celebrate the victory at the end of the match; Malesani gives instructions to the team; Lamouchi shoots for the first goal; an aerial duel between Matias Almeyda and Donati; Lamouchi, after his goal, embraced by Marcio Amoroso and Micoud; a head-on duel between Lamouchi and Sebastiano Siviglia; the collective joy for the second goal; Below: The cheering fans of the Curva Nord.