- Atalanta Bergamo have won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five matches in all competitions
- Union St.-Gilloise have won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five fixtures in all competitions
- Atalanta have won one and lost one of their recent home matches in all competitions, while Union have won both of their most recent home games
European stage for crucial Union vs Atalanta battle
This week’s meeting between Union St.-Gilloise and Atalanta Bergamo is a clash between two clubs at a crossroads in terms of their respective identities in Europe.
David Hubert took the helm at the Belgian champions at the start of October 2025 and has set about injecting his team with a direct, high-octane style of football. The style of play at Union has become more vertical recently, with the players pressing the ball and the wing-backs covering acres of ground.
Union are always looking to force errors and attack as quickly as possible, although the players are still figuring out how to do this as a unit and have had mixed results.
Atalanta are the sharper team
The visit of the Bergamaschi should provide a good test of how they are getting on, particularly as Atalanta have had some time to bed in their own new philosophy under Raffaele Palladino. He has been Atalanta's head coach since November 2025 and has guided Atalanta in an entirely different direction to Union.
Palladino’s side are very much a European team, structured with disciplined mid-blocks and a controlled build-up when they have the ball, but they also press with authority when they need to recover it. They are trying to make Atalanta more of an all-around team without sacrificing their attacking intent, but a few matches in 2025-26 have shown that they are still susceptible to counter-attacks.
Atalanta are currently sitting in 13th place in the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 with 13 points from seven matches, but that is a much better group stage than Union have had in 31st with six points from the same number of games.
Union will get chances in high-energy clash
Atalanta, who are unbeaten in their recent away matches (1 win, 1 draw), are the superior side in all departments right now and should be favourites for Wednesday’s clash, although the odds of 2.12 on the visitors are not quite right given Union are 3.2. Palladino’s men have taken 2 wins and 1 defeat in their three Champions League away fixtures to date, conceding only 4 goals on the road.
Union, on the other hand, have been poor at home in the Champions League this term, losing all three of their games and conceding 11 goals. But they have improved on home turf in the Belgian top-flight and won their two most recent matches at the Stade Joseph Marien.
Union’s win or draw double chance looks tempting, but we feel the Over 2.5 goals market at 1.67 has enough value to take here given the similar attacking approach of both clubs and their leaky defensive records.
Atalanta’s goal-getters can fire Bergamaschi to victory
Anan Khalaili is Union’s top scorer in the Champions League in 2025-26 with two goals in seven appearances, but Promise David has been their most reliable attacking outlet of late, netting twice in their four goals across the last five games.
Nikola Krstovic is on a hot streak for Atalanta with four goals in the last five as the Bergamaschi have scored 10 goals in that spell. He can make the difference in this clash, but Charles De Ketelaere is their best and most experienced forward and is also worth a look to open the scoring at some point as he is the team’s top-scorer in the Champions League with two in six.
Atalanta drew 1-1 with Pisa on the road, were edged 2-3 at home by Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League and then went on a scoring spree to beat AC Parma 4-0 in Bergamo last weekend. Union lost 2-0 away to Bayern Munich in the same week that they drew 0-0 away to Oud-Heverlee Leuven in the Pro League.
