An ode to Atalanta on Champ Man 01/02, the most boring team of all time

They might be everyone's second favorite team in recent years, but Championship Manager 01/02's Atalanta team was infuriating to face.

If there's one team that won the hearts of football fans around the world in 2019-20, it's Atalanta. In large part, that's down to their enthusiastic attacking philosophy, led by Josip Ilicic, Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel, who combined to score 59 goals in all competitions.

With 98 goals, Atalanta broke the record for most goals in a single season in Serie A, finishing just five points behind Juventus, while closing within minutes of the semi-finals of the Champions League. For any neutral, Atalanta had to be one of the teams they supported this season.

However, if you've ever played Championship Manager 01/02, you'll know that Atalanta were - at least in game - the most infuriating team you could ever come across.

That's a rough estimate, but I've played CM01/02 for over 5,000 hours in total, taking Darlington to the Champions League final or handing Roberto Baggio another Scudetto in Brescia.

Yet, despite all the hours put into the game, there was always one team that, no matter how good mine was or how much I cheated, I could never beat: the Atalanta.

They had Massimo Taibi in goal, which should be an indication of a team anyone should beat. But that wasn't the case, from the defenders who made the game's essential cheat code Maxim Tsigalko look like Kevin Kyle to the midfielders who constantly regained possession.

In the lead they had Fausto Rossini, a man who in real life has scored just 32 times in his career. On Championship Manager, however, he was all the great strikers rolled into one with a price that even the owners of Manchester City raised their eyebrows at.

He was strong, tall, fast, excellent in the air, and just as good at poaching goals. It didn't matter who you had at the back - you could use the editor to pace the aging Aldair 20 or even sign Taribo West - you were going to concede Rossini.

As an opposing coach, the problem was that he was also surrounded by players who were excellent at giving him the ball. To top it off, he was paired with Gianni Comandini – quick, able to run all day, very tricky.

Every game against Atalanta had a similar feeling. You'd probably take the lead early on only for them to equalize before half-time, usually through Rossini.

Minutes would pass, you would naively accept that a draw is fine and get Mike Duff and Ibrahim Said to sort things out. Then attacking midfielder Cristiano Doni would work his magic like the shit he was, and before you knew it you'd be down 3-1 with the entire Atalanta squad rated nine and 10.

Doni was a real threat and a great signing if you could get him away from Atalanta (good luck for him). As far as attacking midfielders go, he was among the best in the game, strong in just about every attribute you'd want from your long-haired, low-socked Italian playmaker.

Being on the receiving end of one of his absurd free-kicks or penalties in the 89th minute was enough to consider never playing in Italy again. It didn't matter where you went, though: if you played in a European competition, you were going to end up facing Atalanta and Doni at some point.

Even if you tried to save England from Sven and his insistent use of Nick Barmby, you'd run into Doni and Italy - and you'd be destroyed.

If Doni and Rossini hadn't been successful with you, you probably wouldn't have gotten past this midfield trio.

Ousmane Dabo was as strong as an ox and the perfect midfielder with a strength of 20 and high marks for work rate, stamina, tackling, aggression and determination. Damiano Zenoni was the box-to-box midfielder who popped up everywhere with some of the game's most well-rounded attributes, and Luciano Zauri had an annoying amount of goals in him for someone who was supposed to be a wing-back, ...