In an interview with the Gazzeta dello Sport on Sunday, the Atalanta Bergamo coach said he learned that he had contracted the Covid-19 in March. He said he had visibly had it the day before and the day of the eighth-final Champions League return won on the ground of the Spanish team, (4-3, March 10). “The day before the match in Valencia, I was sick. The afternoon before the match, even worse. I didn't look good on the bench. It was March 10. The next two nights in Zingonia (Atalanta training center) I slept little. I didn't have a fever but I felt exhausted, like I had 40 of fever. ” Gasperini, had not been hospitalized but had carried out a test ten days ago, which confirmed that he had indeed had the Covid-19.
The surprise of FC Valence
The leaders of the Valencia club, whose workforce was the most affected in Spain by the disease (ten players and fifteen staff members contracted it), reacted strongly to these confessions via a press release. "Following the declarations of Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini which appeared in the Italian press this Sunday, Valencia CF would like to publicly express their surprise that the coach of the rival team during the elimination in 8th of the Champions League final recognized that the day before and the match played on March 10 in Mestalla, he had realized that he was suffering from symptoms allegedly compatible with the coronavirus without taking preventive measures, endangering, if that had been the case, many people during their journey and stay in Valencia. This match was played behind closed doors, surrounded by rigorous measures, in order to prevent the risk of contagion, in particular because they (the players of Atalanta, editor's note) came from a risk zone. "
At the time of the meeting, the coronavirus was already spreading in Europe and was severely affecting northern Italy, in particular the city of Bergamo. The first leg between the two teams, marked by the displacement of 40,000 supporters from Bergamo to Milan where the match was contested, was pointed out by several experts as an important source of contamination.
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