Young Boys vs Atalanta facts

Still without a point in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, Young Boys welcome unbeaten Atalanta to Switzerland on Matchday 5.

The Bern club are one of five to have lost their first four fixtures, going down 0-3 at home to Aston Villa and 0-1 against Atalanta's domestic rivals Inter Milan in addition to a 5-0 loss at Barcelona and a 2-1 away defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 4.

UEFA Europa League holders Atalanta have been held 0-0 at home by both Arsenal and Celtic but have won both away games, 3-0 at Shakhtar and 2-0 at Stuttgart in their last fixture.

Previous meetings

2021/22 Champions League group stage
Atalanta 1-0 Young Boys
Young Boys 3-3 Atalanta
Matteo Pessina scored the only goal in Bergamo on Matchday 2 before the teams shared six goals in Bern on Matchday 5. Visitors Atalanta led twice, through Duván Zapata and José Luis Palomino, but Jordan Pefok and Vincent Sierro levelled on each occasion. Silvan Hefti gave Young Boys the lead with six minutes remaining, but Luis Muriel equalised to make the final score 3-3.

Form guide

Young Boys

Record vs Italian clubs: W4 D1 L6 F15 A20
Home record vs Italian clubs: W3 D1 L2

YB have already faced Italian opponents in Bern this season, conceding in the 93rd minute to lose 0-1 at home to Inter on Matchday 3.

That made it five games without a win against Serie A sides (D1 L4), since a 2-1 defeat of Juventus on Matchday 6 of the 2018/19 Champions League that is their sole success in their last eight matches against Italian clubs (D1 L6) having won their first three.

YB won their first three home matches against Italian visitors but are without a victory in the last three (D1 L2).

Young Boys are in the Champions League proper for the fourth time – all in the last seven seasons.

In 2023/24, the Swiss side finished third in their section behind Manchester City and Leipzig but ahead of Crvena Zvezda thanks to a 2-0 home win against the Serbian side on Matchday 5; they had drawn 2-2 in Belgrade, losing their other four games.

Young Boys therefore moved across into the Europa League but their campaign lasted only one tie, losing to Sporting CP in the knockout round play-offs (1-3 h, 1-1 a).

Young Boys started this season in the Champions League play-offs, beating Galatasaray 3-2 at home and 1-0 away.

The Swiss club have lost six of their last nine European home matches – as many as in their previous 25 games – winning the other three.

YB won their sixth Swiss Super League title in seven years in 2023/24, their 17th championship overall.

Atalanta

Record vs Swiss clubs: W1 D1 L0 F4 A3
Away record vs Swiss clubs: W0 D1 L0

Atalanta's two games against Young Boys are their only fixtures against a Swiss club.

Atalanta claimed only the club's second major silverware – and a first top-flight trophy since the 1962/63 Coppa Italia – with a 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final in May, Ademola Lookman scoring the first final hat-trick.

First in their section, Gian Piero Gasperini's team eliminated Sporting CP in the round of 16 (3-2 aggregate), Liverpool in the quarter-finals (3-1 agg) and Marseille in the semis (4-1 agg) to set up that final triumph.

Atalanta are taking part in the Champions League proper for the fourth time – all since 2019 – in 2024/25.

La Dea's win at Shakhtar on Matchday 2 ended a four-game run without a victory in Champions League away games (D2 L2) having won five of their first seven matches (L2).

The Italian side have three wins in their last 12 Champions League fixtures (D5 L4).

The Bergamo club were fourth in Serie A last season, their fifth top-four finish in eight seasons.

Atalanta began the season with a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw on 14 August.

Links and trivia

Ebrima Colley was an Atalanta player between 2019 and 2024, when he joined Young Boys. His sole appearances were five Serie A games in 2019/20, while he also had loan spells at Verona (2020/21) and Spezia (2021/22).

Berat Djimsiti joined hometown club Zürich in 2007, breaking into the first team four years later. He scored six goals in 136 games before leaving in 2016, winning the Swiss Cup in 2014 and 2015, and represented Switzerland at Under-18, U19 and U21 level.

Darian Males was on Inter's books between 2020 and joining Young Boys in 2023 but never played for the first team. His sole appearance in Italian football came in the Coppa Italia while on loan at Genoa in 2021.

Latest news

Young Boys

The Swiss champions made it four league games unbeaten (W2 D2) with a 1-1 draw at Luzern on Saturday, Darian Males giving YB the lead with his first Super League goal since 16 December.

A 2-1 home win against Lugano on 10 November is one of only four in Young Boys' last 13 games – a run that includes seven defeats.

The 2-0 loss at Lugano on 27 October was YB's sixth league reverse of the season – just one less than in the whole of 2023/24.

YB parted company with Patrick Rahmen on 8 October; Under-21 coach Joël Magnin has replaced him on an interim basis.

Joel Monteiro scored his first international goal in Switzerland's 3-2 UEFA Nations League loss in Spain on 18 November.

Mohamed Ali Camara played 90 minutes on Saturday having missed six matches with a muscle injury.

Saidy Janko has not played this season due to a muscle injury.

Patric Pfeiffer has been out since suffering a hamstring injury on his Young Boys debut on 17 August; he damaged the medial ligament in his right knee in training on 9 October.

Miguel Chaiwa has not played since 11 October due to an ankle injury while Banhie Zoukrou has been out since suffering a hip injury in training on 16 October.

Abdu Conté has been sidelined by a ligament injury since 2 November while Loris Benito has not played since going off with an adductor injury on Matchday 4.

Atalanta

On Saturday Atalanta made it seven successive Serie A wins with a 3-1 victory at Parma.

Mateo Retegui, who got an early opener, is Serie A's leading scorer with 12 goals.

Gian Piero Gasperini's team have scored 23 goals and conceded four in their last seven Serie A games.

Atalanta have the best attack in Serie A with 34 goals in 13 games, scoring two or more in each of the last seven.

Gianluca Scamacca has been ruled out until 2025 with a knee ligament injury although Giorgio Scalvini came on on Saturday for his first appearance of the season having recovered from a similar problem.

Sead Kolašinac has not played since suffering a thigh injury on Matchday 4 while Berat Djimsiti (ankle) and Davide Zappacosta (calf) were replaced in a 2-1 home win against Udinese on 10 November and also missed Saturday's win, as did Ben Godfrey.