Athletic Club victorious after a second-half comeback, Atalanta under pressure.
Athletic Club produced a powerful second-half comeback to dent Atalanta’s hopes of automatically reaching the Champions League last 16, while also strengthening their own play-off chances.
Gianluca Scamacca’s first-half header gave the hosts a deserved lead at half-time, but Ernesto Valverde’s side took control of the match in the second period.
Gorka Guruzeta equalised just before the hour mark. Substitute Nico Serrano then added a second, before Robert Navarro beat home goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi to score a third.
Atalanta pulled one goal back late on when Ademola Lookman set up fellow substitute Nikola Krstovic for a tap-in, but it proved too little, too late.
As a result, the Bilbao club sit 23rd in the table with eight points and still have a home fixture against Sporting to come on Wednesday, 28 January (20:00 GMT).
Atalanta have dropped out of the top eight and now sit in 13th place.
One of eight teams on 13 points, the Italian side are likely to need a win against Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise to progress directly to the knockout stage.
