In Ruggeri’s footsteps, but on the opposite flank, after various moments he will make his debut from the 1st minute: born in 2005, from Buccinasco in Milan, the Goddess believes in it so much
After the friendly match played against AZ Alkmaar on 29 December 2022, Gian Piero Gasperini, praising the exponential growth of the twenty-year-old Matteo Ruggeri and underlining how “the Atalanta youth sector has very important resources when it comes to wingers”, had for the first time he revealed his appreciation towards “a 17 year old boy who plays for the Primavera”. Despite not having made the name explicit (nor the area of competence), the reference to Marco Palestra was clear.
DEBUTS
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Two years later, the 2005 class is permanently included in the first team’s pack of players and has already clocked up seven appearances, including the Super Cup with Real Madrid and his debut in the Champions League against Young Boys. . His official debut had already arrived on 16 December 2023, in the Europa League against Rakow, even if he had collected his first ‘unofficial’ minutes in a friendly in Nice a year earlier, taking over from Ruggeri at Allianz Riviera, just 17 years old. From external to external, a sort of handover: like Zogno’s class of 2002, in fact, Palestra is also a son of Zingonia.
GROWTH
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He entered the Nerazzurri youth sector when he was only 10 years old: from there he completed the climb to professionalism. The Nerazzurri scouts had spotted him in the Milan area: he is from Buccinasco, who grew up playing football in Assago. He played in the Inter Academy, a club affiliated to the club of which his grandfather had also been a member at youth level. But he chose another Nerazzurri player. The path proved him right: “Dream big”, he wrote on Instagram after that December 16, 2022. 2023/24 he had his first taste of being a ‘pro’ with the Under 23s, an increasingly hotbed of Orobic talent: 41 appearances under the orders of mister Modesto, 39 as a starter. 3 goals, 3 assists.
THE CALL OF GASP
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At the weekend he played in Serie C, but during the week he divided his time between the second and first teams. Then from the summer he passed permanently under the orders of Gasperini, who had already called him up on five occasions last year, including European semi-finals: he had requests from half of Italy and also from abroad to move on loan (and he will also have them in January ), but the strong desire of the coach and management was to make it grow “at home”, continuing the path already traced in previous years. He also missed the Under 19 European Championship with Italy, of which he was a pillar (today he is in the Under 20s), and remained in Zingonia to prepare for the season with the big boys. “Marco is an emerging boy, he’s part of the squad: he’ll play, then we’ll see his growth,” said Gasperini after the San Siro match against Inter in August. And against Cesena he could get his first start for the Nerazzurri: it could only be the beginning of a long series, because the conditions for following in Ruggeri’s footsteps, even if on the opposite flank, are all there.
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