After Atalanta sold their best striker, Mateo Retegui, to a Saudi Arabian club, I began to doubt Atalanta performance this season. Furthermore, they are no longer coached by Gasperini, so I'm not surprised that Atalanta started the season poorly. They haven't fully formed with their current players, even though they have recruited a new striker, but he doesn't have the same abilities as Mateo Retegui.
I'm also not sure Atalanta will deliver better results than last season, as they are more concerned with profit than retaining players who have make a big contribution to their team.
Losing an important person on the team can indeed change the overall performance of the team, and we saw it in Atalanta. However they conduct their business, they must accept the impact. What is more challenging for them is not just the Serie A matches throughout the season, but they also have to compete in the Champions League, which would certainly be a disadvantage if their performance declines. Many teams are restructuring to face an increasingly tough season, but there will be teams that actually experience a decline in performance.
Of course, there will be teams experiencing declines in their performance. After all, teams competing in both the Italian league and the Champions League will face a demanding schedule. In this case, they could drop points in both the league and the Champions League due to the challenging matches they face. However, the key is to keep these points losses to a minimum. If they can manage this, Atalanta could once again be in a strong position in the Italian league this year.