Pep Guardiola never needs encouraging to praise opponents, so not much was made of it when he told Sky Italia that "we knew Atalanta would take us to the limit" after a 5-1 win earlier this season.
“They know what to do with the ball, play very well and take you into difficult situations," he added. "It’s no coincidence they qualified for the Champions League, they have a very special way of playing football."
While Gian Piero Gasperini's side were impressing again in Serie A after pipping the Milan clubs to third place the season before, they left the Etihad that night with zero points from their opening three games in their debut Champions League campaign.
Similarly, the Manchester City manager's comments after a 1-1 draw felt over the top. It sounds fitting when he describes a trip to Turf Moor as like going to the dentist but repeating that expression for Atalanta at the San Siro that night seemed a stretch.
Had Gabriel Jesus not missed a penalty, had Ederson not been injured and Claudio Bravo not Claudio Bravo'd to the extent that Kyle Walker ended up in goal, the Blues would surely have won and the Italian newcomers would have been dumped out of the competition.
But City did not, and Atalanta's recovery since then has been remarkable. Having taken four games to pick up their first point, they beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 at their temporary home before winning 3-0 away at Shakhtar Donetsk to squeeze through to the knockout stages. An 8-4 mullering of Valencia in the last-16 leaves them as the only Italian side in the quarter-finals, besting Juventus whose president had questioned whether they should have been allowed in the competition on the back on just one excellent season in Serie A.
Gasperini's side may not drum up the painful drilling that the dentist analogy brings to mind, but they are instead capable of punching holes in a team with surgical precision. Pain of a very different kind.
Italian teams have again borne the brunt, with Atalanta smashing in 98 goals on their way to another third-placed finish that means they will be gracing the Champions League once again next season. Had it not been for two soft penalties they conceded against Juventus in July, they could have even threatened a late title surge.
As Paris Saint-Germain nervously prepare another tilt at the competition's latter stages, seeing a team with no fear and nothing to lose on the other side of the pitch will not fill them with confidence. The French team seem to specialise in finding novel ways to exit the Champions League, and going out to a team playing their maiden campaign would certainly be included in the repertoire.
Despite Guardiola's praise, City could and probably should have ended Atalanta's hopes in the group stages. Now the Italian dark horses could well progress further than the Blues - or meet them in the final.
