PSG will therefore face the surprise team of these quarter-finals of the Champions League. Atalanta Bergamo was not the most eagerly awaited guest at the table of the eight best European teams, but the confrontation against the Italians was everything from the trap match for the champions of France.
Third in Serie A last season, the best ranking in its history, the Lombard club discovered this season the Champions League. A big swim where he first took the broth with three defeats to start his European campaign before succeeding in snatching his qualification behind Manchester City.
In the process, the team led by Gian Piero Gasperini followed with a double success against Valencia in the 8th final (4-1; 4-3) where they confirmed their formidable attacking potential. A character observed every week in Serie A where Bergamo is currently third in the ranking with the best attack in the championship. 85 goals scored by experienced players but little known to the general public like Luis Muriel (17 goals), Josip Ilicic (15) or Dwan Zapata (14).
13 games unbeaten since January 20
A frantic pace that the suspension of competitions this spring has not slowed down. The Atalanta which remains on a series of 13 games without defeat, all competitions combined, has not lost a single game since January 20 and a home loss to Spal (1-2), then the red lantern of Serie AT.
Before facing Juventus Turin this Saturday (9:45 pm) for the shock at the top of the championship, Bergamo remains on a series of eleven wins in a row with 34 goals scored for 13 conceded. Enough to give white hair to Thomas Tuchel and his staff by the quarter-final scheduled between August 12 and 15.
But Atalanta Bergamo has not entered recent news solely thanks to its performance on the ground. The club also found itself in spite of itself in the macabre whirlwind of the coronavirus crisis. The city is indeed at the heart of one of the regions most affected by the pandemic. The first leg against Valencia, played at the San Siro stadium in Milan because the Atalanta facilities are too small, brought together 43,000 Italian supporters and 2,500 Spaniards.
Beginners ✅ Through to quarter-finals ✅
⚫️🔵 @Atalanta_BC 👍 # UCLdraw
For many specialists, the success acquired 4-1 in the field would have been very expensive epidemically. According to several Italian doctors, this meeting would have contributed to “multiply the cases” in a country particularly bruised by the disease.
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Coach Gian Piero Gasperini himself admitted that he had caught the virus and was sick on March 10 during the return match in Spain.
