Adriano Pinto gave them an early lead at the Stadio Azzurri D'Italia, before they were pegged back by a 48th-minute Luis Figo penalty.

Roberto Mancini's men missed out on the domestic double in midweek despite a 2-1 win over Roma in the second-leg of the Coppa Italia final at the the San Siro, which fell well short of their 6-2 first-leg deficit.

But the point should please the coach after seeing his team fight from a goal down as they aim to close out the season on a high.

They started on the wrong foot though and fell behind after just 10 minutes, Pinto making the best of a fine long-ball from his defence before dribbling past Nicolas Burdisso and finishing with an arrowed shot from six yards.

The shot gave Julio Cesar no chance as Inter looked slow as they struggled to find room against a well organised Atalanta.

But their patience almost told in the 23rd minute when Dejan Stankovic made a darting run to the by-line before cutting back a dangerous ball that had to be deflected wide by Atalanta custodian Alex Calderoni at the far post.

On the half-hour, Pinto again charged his way through the visitors' defence, before the onrushing Julio Cesar managed to steal the ball at the Brazilian's feet.

An audacious attempt by Riccardo Zampagna shortly before half time almost doubled the lead. The striker almost catching out Julio Cesar, who was off his line, but his lob was inches over.

Immediately after the restart though, Inter were handed a lifeline by the referee Andrea Romero, who spotted an infringement on Mariano Gonzalez by defender Morris Carrozzieri and the ensuing penalty from Figo beat Calderoni.

Stefano Colantuono's team almost immediately restored their lead, but Pinto's cross was headed straight the goalkeeper by substitute Cristian Vieri.

Pinto himself and Luca Ariatti both wasted excellent chances, firing wide from distance as Atalanta pressed forward.

At the other end, Figo and Fabio Grosso also missed decent chances, before two fine saves from Julio Cesar close to the end.

First the Brazilian dived full length to scramble away Massimo Donati's volley from the edge of the penalty area.

He followed that up with a finger-tip save from another Vieri header, after the Italian pounced on a corner from Davide Bombardini, as Inter did enough to eventually hold on.

The point for the home team means they claimed 11 out of a possible 15 points from their last five games and will be looking for a strong final showing against Livorno next season.