UEFA Europa League holders Atalanta step up to the UEFA Champions League, returning to the competition with a home game against Arsenal.

The Italian side are in the Champions League for the fourth time having featured for three successive seasons between 2019/20 and 2021/22 – two of those campaigns extending into the knockout stage.

Arsenal ended a six-season absence from the Champions League in 2023/24, when they made it as far as the quarter-finals – the first time since 2009/10 they had progressed beyond the round of 16.

This is the first fixture between the teams.

Form guide

Atalanta

Record vs English clubs: W4 D2 L4 F19 A18

Home record vs English clubs: W1 D2 L2

Atalanta took on English opponents in last season's Europa League quarter-finals, a stunning 3-0 first-leg win at Anfield paving the way for an aggregate success against Liverpool despite a 0-1 home loss in the return.

The team from Bergamo have only one win from their five home matches against Premier League opponents – the first, a 3-0 defeat of Everton in the 2017/18 Europa League group stage.

Atalanta won that reverse fixture 5-1 but have managed only two victories in their subsequent eight games against English clubs, home and away (D2 L4).

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 German champions Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final in Dublin with Ademola Lookman scoring the first final hat-trick in the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

Gasperini's team had won their section ahead of Sporting CP, Sturm Graz and Raków Częstochowa, winning four of their six games and remaining unbeaten, before edging past Sporting 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 will be taking part in the Champions League group stage for the fourth time – all since 2019 – in 2024/25.

The Serie A side have only one victory in their last seven home Champions League matches (D3 L3) – but won four of their six home Europa League matches in 2023/24 (D1 L1).

Atalanta were the ninth different Italian club to reach the UEFA Cup/Europa League showpiece and the first Italian team to win the competition in the Europa League era. The previous Italian champions were Parma in 1998/99.

Gasperini became the oldest coach to win the Europa League, aged 66 years 117 days.

The Bergamo club were fourth in Serie A last season, their fifth top-four finish in eight seasons. They ended on 69 points, 25 behind champions Inter.

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

Arsenal

Record vs Italian clubs: W19 D8 L8 F47 A27

Away record vs Italian clubs: W7 D4 L6

Arsenal's last games against an Italian club came in the 2018/19 Europa League quarter-finals, when they beat Napoli 2-0 at home and 1-0 away.

That made it four successive victories against Serie A opposition, and six wins in the last seven (L1).

Arsenal have won seven of their last eight matches against Serie A opposition in north London, drawing the other. They conceded just once in those fixtures, in a 3-1 win against AC Milan in the 2017/18 Europa League round of 16 second leg (5-1 aggregate).

Having not featured in the Champions League proper between 2016/17 and 2023/24, Arsenal are making their second successive appearance.

Overall, this is Arsenal's 21st Champions League campaign – second only to Manchester United's 25 among English clubs – but only their second in the last eight seasons. The 2016/17 season had been their 19th in a row, all under Arsène Wenger.

The Gunners finished first in Group B last season, ahead of PSV Eindhoven, Lens and Sevilla, having won four of their six games. They then edged past Porto (0-1 a, 1-0 h aet, 4-2 pens) – their first round of 16 success since 2009/10, also against the Portuguese side – but then lost out to Bayern München in the quarter-finals (2-2 h, 0-1 a).

Arsenal have won 12 of their last 22 away European matches, losing only five – although those defeats have come in their last ten fixtures.

Arsenal's most successful European campaign in recent years came in 2018/19 when, under Unai Emery, they reached the Europa League final only to lose 4-1 to London rivals Chelsea in Baku.

Champions League runners-up in 2006, when they lost 2-1 to Barcelona at the Stade de France, Mikel Arteta's side were second in the Premier League last season, two points behind Manchester City. It was the second successive campaign in which they had finished runners-up to City.

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Atalanta

On Sunday Atalanta twice came from behind to win 3-2 at home to Fiorentina, Ademola Lookman scoring the decisive goal in first-half added time.

Mateo Retegui made it four goals in four Serie A appearances this season. He is the third Atalanta player since 1994/95 to score at least four goals in his first four rop-flight games after Franck Kessié in 2016 and Filippo Inzaghi in 1996.

Atalanta started the Serie A season with a 4-0 win at Lecce but then lost against Torino (1-2) and Inter (0-4).

Summer signings Marco Brescianini and Retegui both scored twice against Lecce.

Retegui was also on target at Torino, a game in which Mario Pašalić missed a penalty.

Lookman scored twice for Nigeria in a 3-0 CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win against Benin on 7 September.

Berat Djimsiti returned from international duty with Albania with a right thigh injury but started on Sunday.

Sead Kolašinac made his first appearance since the UEFA Super Cup having missed Atalanta's first three games of the season with a thigh injury.

Nicolò Zaniolo sat out the defeat against Inter with a similar problem but was an unused substitute on Sunday.

Gianluca Scamacca and Giorgio Scalvini have both been ruled out until 2025 by knee ligament injuries.

Rafael Tolói (muscle) and Ben Godfrey (back) both missed the weekend win.

Arsenal

The Gunners are still unbeaten in this season's Premier League, winning 1-0 at Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday.

Gabriel headed the only goal, the 23rd Arsenal have scored from a set piece in the Premier League since the start of 2023/24 – more than any other side.

Mikel Arteta's side have won six consecutive Premier League away games for the first time since March-September 2013, when they won eight.

Arsenal won 2-0 against both Wolves and at Aston Villa before being held 1-1 at home by Brighton on 31 August.

That is the only goal Arsenal have conceded this season.

Declan Rice scored England's first goal in a 2-0 UEFA Nations League win at the Republic of Ireland on 7 September.

The same night, Kai Havertz converted a late penalty in Germany's 5-0 victory at home to Hungary.

Martin Ødegaard was taken off with an ankle injury in Norway's 2-1 win against Austria on 9 September and missed the win at Tottenham.

Riccardo Calafiori suffered a calf injury in Italy's 3-1 win in France on 6 September and was also absent on Sunday.

Summer signing Mikel Merino has not played since suffering a shoulder injury in his first Arsenal training session on 29 August.

Gabriel Jesus came on as a late substitute on Sunday having been out since 17 August with a thigh problem.

Kieran Tierney (thigh) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are both yet to play this season.

On Thursday Arsenal announced Arteta had signed a new long-term contract.