06/20/2020 - 9:44
- Clarín.com
- World
Fully affected by the coronavirus pandemic that hit with violence in Italy since February, Bergamo is a martyred city that learns to live again, and expects a big step towards the "new normal" this Sunday when it is reunited with its soccer team , Atalanta, who lives a historic season and returns to the stadium.
Images of dozens of coffins gathered at the city's cemetery church in March traveled around the world.
"It was a difficult month. There is great relief now. We have returned to a relatively normal situation," the mayor, Giorgio Gori recently explained.
"In the province, there were 6,000 more deaths than usual in this period, 670 in Bergamo. The equivalent of 45,000 in New York," added the official.
Almost everyone lost a friend, colleague, or neighbor. The Champions League Atalanta-Valencia round of 16 first leg on February 19 played an accelerating role in the epidemic.
That day, 45,792 spectators attended the Atalanta 4-1 victory at the San Siro stadium in Milan. With each goal, multiple hugs in the stadium and in the bars.
The coronavirus threat seemed far away when there was no case yet in Italy.
A flag in Piazza Vecchia, in the Italian city of Bergamo, which tries to come back to life after the coronavirus hit. / AFP
But soon, from March 4, the contaminated curve in Bergamo rises brutally and the party becomes a "biological bomb", according to some doctors.
After the return match on March 10 in Valencia, coach Gian Piero Gasperini promises a "great party", but "later". And the club asks the tifosi (fans) not to meet to celebrate the classification. The virus is sweeping at that time.
An image from March 26 at the San Giuseppe church in Bergamo, with dozens of coffins of victims of the coronavirus. This northern Italian city was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. / AP
Subjected, like the rest of the country, to strict confinement measures for two months , Bergamo began to revive from May 4.
But in the upper part of the city, where hundreds of tourists normally gather, there are hardly any people.
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Watch the special"In general, we put 150 covers at noon and 50 at night. Now, hopefully, we can reach twenty a day," explains Marcello Menalli, owner of the "Caffè del Tasso", one of the oldest restaurants. from Italy.
"Together forever, together forever," reads the painted sign near the Atalanta stadium in Bergamo, Italy. / AFP
Towards the "new normal"
On Sunday, football will allow Bergamo to step forward towards normality, when Atalanta host Sassuolo in his first match after the interruption on March 9.
Fourth classified in Serie A, with Champions options, lives the best season in its history.
"When I think about it, it seems absurd to me. This sports happiness coincides with immense pain in the city," said Gasperini at La Gazzetta dello Sport .
"This match is a small return to normality. But as players and coaches have said, we will think of those who have lived through difficult times," Andrea Sigorini, a 36-year-old fan, told AFP.
"We want to see Atalanta come back, given the level she was at," which will allow us to "talk about something else" besides the coronavirus, Menalli says.
It is the same opinion of Marino Lazzarini, president of Amigos del Atalanta, an association that gathers 6,000 people, and member of the club's board of directors.
"There is a desire for soccer, without forgetting those who have left us. Among friends and acquaintances, I lost 40 people. Soccer helps, not to forget, but to enjoy a little," says this 71-year-old man, who frequents the stadium since he was four.
Captain of the team, the Argentine "Papu" Gómez, was in favor of the restart, despite the opposition of groups of fans.
"Two months ago, I would have been against it. But now that there is more security, I am favorable. Bergamo lives for soccer, breathes soccer. But Bergamo will not forget," he explained to Corriere dello Sport.
Those who applaud the return of football, even if it is behind closed doors, also want to know the end of their team's incredible season.
Atalanta can climb higher still, while Bergamo recovers.
Source: AFP