{"id":425548,"date":"2019-05-13T12:16:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T16:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonfootball.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=425548"},"modified":"2019-05-13T12:19:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T16:19:32","slug":"duvan-zapata-a-breakout-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2019\/05\/13\/duvan-zapata-a-breakout-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Duv\u00e1n Zapata &#8211; a Breakout Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/d3de9af0\/?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duv\u00e1n Zapata<\/a>\u00a0is enjoying the most prolific season of his career. He has been a solid striker in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/serie-a\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Serie A<\/a> for a few years but was never before seen as anything more than a mid-table starter. The 28-year-old now has Atalanta on the brink of Champions League qualification. Furthermore, the <em>Nerazzurri\u00a0<\/em>are in contention for silverware in the Coppa Italia final. With everything to play for, Zapata has consistently stepped up to the plate.<\/p>\n<h1>Duv\u00e1n Zapata&#8217;s Breakout Season<\/h1>\n<h2>Serie A Beginnings<\/h2>\n<p>Zapata had been a journeyman in Italy ever since leaving Colombia. In 2013, Zapata secured a move to Napoli. This was seen as a major accomplishment, as Napoli had re-established themselves as an Italian power. Not able to find consistent time in their rotation, he was loaned out to Udinese.<\/p>\n<p>Scoring 18 goals in 63 league matches, Zapata failed to make an impression for Udinese. Sampdoria was the next time to generate interest on a loan deal. Zapata was solid and scored 11 goals in his one league campaign. Flip-flopping teams again, Zapata joined Atalanta in the summer of 2018 and emerged as one of the top attacking threats in Serie A.<\/p>\n<h2>This Season for Atalanta<\/h2>\n<p>Zapata is taking Italy by storm. Atalanta sit at 65 points and the odds are in their favour to qualify for the Champions League. Of course, Zapata is a catalyst for this end goal. Twenty-two goals and seven assists in 35 league appearances speak for itself.<\/p>\n<p>He sits at second in the\u00a0<em>Capocannoniere<\/em> race, trailing<a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/ee4f2f3b\/Fabio-Quagliarella\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Fabio Quagliarella<\/a> by three goals. His seven assists are also tied for eighth most in the league, ahead of notable names like <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/ad6df2d5\/Miralem-Pjanic\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miralem Pjani\u0107<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/2f557579\/Lorenzo-Insigne\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lorenzo Insigne<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0LJA-bqWqyw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Colombian&#8217;s contributions in the Coppa Italia have not gone unnoticed either. Three goals in four matches isn&#8217;t extraordinary, but they&#8217;ve been crucial in Atalanta&#8217;s journey to the final. The\u00a0<em>Nerazzurri\u00a0<\/em>take on Lazio on May 15th, and Zapata will surely lead the line up front.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, Zapata is the only true and dependable striker in Atalanta&#8217;s squad. <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/6e4df551\/Alejandro-Gomez\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alejandro Gomez<\/a> remains the face of the team and a goal threat, but he is a traditional winger. <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/68252d6d\/Josip-Ilicic\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josip Ili\u010di\u0107<\/a> is a fantastic player and has been a constant goal threat, but he too is not a traditional number nine.<\/p>\n<p>That leaves <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/e5bf73f3\/Musa-Barrow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Musa Barrow<\/a> as the back-up striker. Barrow is young and full of energy, but not ready for the stage that Atalanta has placed itself upon. His four goals in 32 matches is enough to show this.<\/p>\n<h2>Looking Forward<\/h2>\n<p>Besides the cup final, Atalanta will place their focus on Champions League qualification. Four days after the final they will take on <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/serie-a\/juventus\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Juventus<\/a> in a crucial match. Juventus has already won the league, but will surely look to win in front of their home crowd before lifting their trophy.<\/p>\n<p>Atalanta need to put their all in this game, as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/category\/serie-a\/ac-milan\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AC Milan<\/a> should come out with three points versus Frosinone. The\u00a0<em>Rossoneri<\/em> have the upper hand on Atalanta should they finished tied on points due to head-to-head.<\/p>\n<p>If Atalanta managed to come out on top versus Juventus, they have another test in Sassuolo to close out the year. Sassuolo are not quite a team to fear, but they can easily put up a fight. Zapata must keep his foot on the pedal to ensure both silverware and Champions League qualification, something that will place his name in Atalanta lore for years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"wEpwB1WbSmhl6TZ-EnKmOg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1141469411\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'wEpwB1WbSmhl6TZ-EnKmOg',sig:'5twMY7Ofki4A9uriGxFxUKqpmp1sCF-qU5jKbkCHD38=',w:'594px',h:'474px',items:'1141469411',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Duv\u00e1n Zapata\u00a0is enjoying the most prolific season of his career. He has been a solid striker in Serie A for a few years but was never before seen as anything more than a mid-table starter. The 28-year-old now has Atalanta on the brink of Champions League qualification. Furthermore, the Nerazzurri\u00a0are in contention for silverware in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2248,"featured_media":436354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,2],"tags":[3209,1064,3304,48,136],"class_list":["post-425548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-serie-a","category-featured","tag-alejandro-gomez","tag-atalanta","tag-duvan-zapata","tag-serie-a","tag-world-football"],"modified_by":"Martin Hawkins","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}