Atalanta vs Sturm Graz facts

There are contrasting moods at Atalanta and Sturm Graz as they meet for the second season running on Matchday 7 of the UEFA Champions League.

The Italian club recorded a win and a draw against Sturm in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage on their way to lifting their first European trophy and are also faring better in 2024/25.

Atalanta have 11 points from their six games although their unbeaten start was ended by a 2-3 home loss against holders Real Madrid on Matchday 6. Sturm have three points with a single win – 1-0 at home to Girona on Matchday 5 – and five defeats, including 2-3 at LOSC Lille last time out.

Previous meetings

2023/24 Europa League group stage
Sturm Graz 2-2 Atalanta
Atalanta 1-0 Sturm Graz
Szymon Włodarczyk's penalty ten minutes from time earned Sturm a Matchday 3 point in Austria, a Luis Muriel double (34, 45+7pen) having turned the game in Atalanta's favour after Alexander Prass had given the home side a 13th-minute lead.

Berat Djimsiti's goal five minutes after half-time was enough to give Atalanta all three points in Bergamo two weeks later, helping the Italian side ultimately finish top of Group D with 14 points; Sturm were third on four.

Form guide

Atalanta

Record vs Austrian clubs: W1 D1 L1 F3 A2
Home record vs Austrian clubs: W1 D0 L0

Last season's games against Sturm are Atalanta's only fixtures against an Austrian club.

Atalanta claimed only the club's second major silverware – and a first top-flight trophy since the 1962/63 Coppa Italia – in 2023/24, defeating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final in Dublin with Ademola Lookman scoring the first final hat-trick.

Gian Piero Gasperini's team had won their section ahead of Sporting CP, who they edged past again in the round of 16 (1-1 a, 2-1). They stunned Liverpool in the quarter-finals (3-0 a, 0-1 h) and then got the better of Marseille (1-1 a, 3-0 h) to set up that final triumph.

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

The Serie A side have only one victory in their last ten home Champions League matches (D5 L4) but won four of their six home Europa League matches in 2023/24 (D1 L1).

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.

Sturm Graz

Record vs Italian clubs: W1 D6 L7 F13 A21
Away record vs Italian clubs: W1 D2 L4

Last season's games against Atalanta made it six without a win (D3 L3) in fixtures with Serie A sides for Sturm, who had drawn three in a row before losing in Italy.

A 1-0 success at Lazio in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup third round second leg is Sturm's only victory against an Italian club, home or away – although they lost that tie on aggregate having been beaten 1-3 at home.

Sturm have conceded only nine goals in their seven away games against Italian sides but have lost four – all by a single goal.

This is the fourth time Sturm have featured in the Champions League proper – and the first since 2001/02, their third successive appearance.

That most recent campaign is the only one in which the Austrian side survived the initial group stage. First in their section ahead of Galatasaray, Rangers and Monaco, Sturm were third behind Valencia and Manchester United in the second group stage, though they did end with six points thanks to two wins against Panathinaikos.

Sturm have lost five times in Champions League qualifying since that last group appearance 23 seasons ago. This is the first time they have ever qualified direct for the competition proper.

In 2023/24, Sturm were beaten 7-2 on aggregate by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League third qualifying round, and then finished third in their Europa League group. That sent them into the Europa Conference League, where they were eventually eliminated by Lille.

The Austrian club have won only two of their last 16 away European matches (D3 L11) and five of the last 35, a sequence that stretches back to 2009 and includes 20 defeats. They have been beaten at Brest (1-2), Borussia Dortmund (0-1) and Lille in this season's league phase.

Last season Christian Ilzer's side finished top of the Austrian Bundesliga to end Salzburg's run of ten titles in a row. It was Sturm's fourth league triumph and a first since 2010/11; they also claimed the Austrian Cup for the seventh time, winning a second domestic double.

Ilzer departed for German club Hoffenheim on 15 November with Jürgen Säumel named as his replacement.

Links and trivia

Have played in Italy:
Emanuel Aiwu (Cremonese 2022/23)
Stefan Hierländer (Sampdoria academy 2008)

Sturm coach Säumel played in Italy for Torino (2008–10) and Brescia (2010 loan).

Have played together:
Emanuel Aiwu & Marco Carnesecchi (Cremonese 2022/23)

International team-mates:
Sead Kolašinac & Jusuf Gazibegović (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Latest news

Atalanta

Atalanta's 15-match unbeaten Serie A run (W11 D4) was ended by a 2-3 defeat at home to leaders Napoli on Saturday despite goals from Mateo Retegui and Ademola Lookman.

Wins against Cagliari (1-0) and Empoli (3-2) made it 11 successive Serie A victories for Atalanta – the first time in the club's history they had won ten or more matches in the Italian top flight – before a 1-1 draw at Lazio on 28 December.

The Bergamo side lost their first game in 2025, 2-0 against Inter in the Italian Super Cup semi-finals on 2 January.

Atalanta were subsequently held 0-0 at Udinese on 11 January before a 1-1 draw at home to Juventus three days later.

Retegui, who also found the net against Juve, is Serie A's top scorer with 14 goals.

The Argentinian has 16 in all competitions this season, one of three Atalanta players to reach double figures alongside Lookman (13) and Charles De Ketelaere (10).*

On 18 December Atalanta reached the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by beating Serie B side Cesena 6-1 in Bergamo. They will face Bologna in the last eight.

Atalanta scored a club-record 126 goals in 2024.

Defender Odilon Kossounou suffered an adductor injury at Udinese and is expected to be sidelined for up to three months after surgery.

Gianluca Scamacca has not played this season due to a knee ligament injury.

Sturm Graz

The Matchday 6 defeat at LOSC Lille was Jürgen Säumel's first as Sturm coach.

On 17 December Sturm confirmed Säumel had signed a permanent contract.

Sturm have not played a competitive fixture since losing at Lille, although they have played friendlies against Lugano (2-1) and Grasshopper-Club (0-1), Orijent Rijeka (1-1) and Rijeka (0-2) this month.

The Austrian champions are unbeaten in ten league games (W7 D3), since a 0-3 home loss to Wolfsberg on 22 September.

Sturm return to domestic action on 1 February, when they are at home to Austria Wien in the Austrian Cup quarter-finals.

Max Johnston (calf) and Seedy Jatta (back) missed the games against Orijent Rijeka and Rijeka, both on 17 January.

Amady Camara, who had not played since 19 October due to an infection, started against Lugano.

Goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, whose last competitive appearance came on 23 November prior to undergoing knee surgery, returned to start the friendly against Grasshopper-Club.

On 11 January Sturm announced Denmark Under-21 forward Mika Biereth had joined Monaco.

Erencan Yardımcı's loan spell at Sturm ended early on 2 January, when he returned to parent club Hoffenheim.