Three matches into the 2026-27 Serie A campaign, Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi carries an average rating of 8.08 — a number that sits in uncomfortable tension with the fact that la Dea have already lost once, conceding three goals across their opening fixtures. The individual and the collective are telling different stories, and the gap between them is where this early-season narrative lives.
The most recent chapter arrived away against Roma, where Atalanta led before conceding twice in added time to lose 2-1. Carnesecchi's performance drew praise — described in match coverage as raising a wall — yet the result handed Maurizio Sarri's side their first defeat of the season and left them eighth in the table with six points from three matches. A goalkeeper rated that highly in a losing effort is not a contradiction; it is a signal that the defensive structure around him is still finding its shape.
That shape-finding is, by Atalanta's own admission, a work in progress. Sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli acknowledged publicly that adapting to Sarri's methods will take time. Sarri's systems are demanding and specific — they ask defenders and midfielders to hold lines and press in coordinated waves — and until that coordination becomes automatic, the goalkeeper becomes the last corrective mechanism. Carnesecchi, at 26, is being asked to compensate for a team still learning its own geometry.
His AI overall of 68 out of 100, with a potential of 75, frames him as a goalkeeper with meaningful room to develop rather than a finished article. The rating he is producing on the pitch already outpaces that ceiling in terms of immediate impact, which suggests the model may be conservative about his current form. Three matches is too small a sample to draw conclusions, but 8.08 across those appearances is not a fluke — it reflects consistent decision-making and presence.
The Roma defeat also surfaced a broader institutional tension. An official club statement from Atalanta firmly rejected Roma's characterisation of events involving chief executive Percassi, a dispute that adds friction to an already complicated week. Off-field noise rarely helps a squad settle, and Sarri's group is already navigating the cognitive load of a new tactical identity.
Carnesecchi's numbers offer Atalanta something to hold onto. His performances have been the clearest evidence that the project has a foundation worth building on.