Sturm Graz make the trip to Italy to face Atalanta this Thursday in matchday four of the Europa League. While Atalanta sit in control of the group, Sturm Graz will be looking for a win to put them back in the conversation for qualification.
Atalanta currently sit top of Group D after three games. The Italian side have two wins and a draw, leaving them on seven points, three points ahead of Sporting Lisbon and Sturm Graz.
In their last five games in all competitions, Atalanta have two wins, one draw and two losses. An own goal from Charles De Ketelaere gave Lazio the lead in the fifth minute and Valentin Castellanos doubled the lead just six minutes later. Ederson got Atalanta on the scoresheet before halftime and Sead Kolasinac levelled the game in the second half, but Matias Vecino grabbed the winner for Lazio, giving Lazio the 3 - 2 win. Ademola Lookman and Ederson both scored in the second half to give Atalanta the 2 - 0 win over Genoa.
In the Europa League, Atalanta last faced Sturm Graz. The game ended as a 2 - 2 draw with Luis Muriel grabbing both goals for Atalanta as Sturm Graz ended the game with only ten men. However, Atalanta were back to winning ways against Empoli. Gianluca Scamacca grabbed a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Teun Koopmeiners in the 3 - 0 win for Atalanta.
The last time out for Atalanta was against Inter Milan. Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring with his penalty in the first half and Lautauro Martinez doubled Inter’s lead just after halftime. Scamacca scored in the 61st minute but it wasn’t enough as Inter won 2 - 1 and Rafael Toloi was sent off late on.
Sturm Graz, on the other hand, sit third in Group D. In three games they have one win, one draw and one loss. This leaves them on four points, equal with Sporting but behind them based on their head-to-head and three points behind Atalanta.
In their last five games in all competitions, Sturm Graz have two wins, one draw and two losses. Christoph Lang opened the scoring in the fourth minute for Hartberg, but Seedy Jatta and Alexander Prass both scored to give Sturm Graz the 2 - 1 win. In the Europa League, Prass and Szymon Wlodarczyk both scored in the 2 - 2 draw with Atalanta despite the sending off of Stefan Hierlander.
Andreas Gruber scored the only goal of the game in the 14th minute to give Austria Wien the 1 - 0 win over Sturm Graz. In the Round of 16 of the Austrian Cup, Sturm Graz faced Grazer AK. Gregory Wuthrich and Bryan Silva Teixeira Jr both scored along with an own goal from Yannick Oberleitner gave Sturm Graz the 3 - 2 win.
The most recent outing for Sturm Graz was against LASK. Wlodarczyk scored for Sturm Graz but goals from Moses Usor, Filip Stojkovic and Robert Zulj gave LASK the 3 - 1 win.
The only time these two teams have met is in this year’s Europa League. Prass opened the scoring for Sturm Graz in the 13th minute, but a goal from Muriel in the 34th minute and a penalty from Muriel in the added time of the first half gave Atalanta the 2 - 1 lead going into halftime. Hierlander was then sent off for Sturm Graz early in the second half but a penalty from Wlodarczyk late on meant the game finished 2 - 2.