The story of the season is surely Atalanta who achieved a historic 3rd place finish and Champions League football against all the odds.
A key characteristic of the Bergamo Boys has been their resilience. Before Serie A even kicked off, they suffered the huge disappointment of being knocked out of the Europa League qualifiers on penalties. That blow affected the team who failed to win any of their opening 6 league games and didn't even score in 5 of them. There were doubts about Gian Piero Gasperini's future at the club and no one could have predicted the way he would turn things around.
Atalanta ended the season as the highest scorers in the Italian top flight with 77 goals - ousting the likes of Inter, AC Milan, Roma and Lazio to finish in 3rd place and also reach the Coppa Italia final. So how did they do it?
Gasperini will deservedly take all the plaudits and is certainly the Manager of the Season. Despite losing some first team regulars in the summer, the veteran coach does what he always does - gets on with it and creates new stars with very limited resources. He wasn't deterred by the poor start and stuck to his principles. He showed the bravery to continue playing an aggressive, attacking style of football which would pay off over the course of the season.
Much of Atalanta's style revolved around raiding wing-backs Hans Hateboer and Timothy Castagne who have been excellent all season. Gianluca Mancini has stepped up the plate after the departure of Mattia Caldara and the young defender already looks like a leader at the back. Josip Ilicic has always had talent but now he has now added the consistency with another excellent season. Duvan Zapata has found a home in Bergamo and is finally living up to his potential - becoming one of the most lethal strikers in Italy with 23 goals.
The man who knits it all together for Atalanta is their captain - Alejandro Gomez. His energetic, dynamic style sums up everything great about this team. "Papu" finished joint-top of the assist charts with 11 and also struck 7 goals to put himself in the conversation for Player of the Season.
Truth be told, anyone in this side could be in the Team of the Season. The only thing missing was a piece of silverware which just eluded them with an unlucky late defeat to Lazio in the Coppa Italia final. Even after that disappointment, they were able to show the resilience to carry on in Serie A and get the points they needed to qualify for the Champions League.
The hope right now is that they will be able to keep their best players. The fact that Gasperini has confirmed he will stay at the club is a huge boost towards that goal and a massive statement of intent - especially with bigger clubs sniffing around for his services. It is fitting that he will be the man to take this adventure into Europe's premier club competition.
