Atalanta is the only team in Serie A that has a player from Ukraine and a player from Russia.
This week, in parallel with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these two players scored goals.
Ukrainian Ruslan Malinowski did it twice, in a 0: 3 victory over Olympiacos in the Europa League, revealing a shirt calling for an end to the war.
Russian Alexei Mirenchuk scored in the 0: 4 victory over Sampdoria in the league, and did not celebrate, even though it was his first goal in two and a half months. In both cases, by symbolic coincidence, only one of them was on the roster.
Opposite Olympiacos Mirenchuk was injured, and in front of Sampdoria Malinowski was dropped from the squad minutes before the opening whistle, due to his own injury.
When the war broke out they were asked by coach Gian Piero Gasparini if they were able to continue as usual, and they both answered in the affirmative.
A day after the game against the Greeks in the Europa League they have already met at the training ground,
And hugged each other.
A few minutes later, all the staff players had already wrapped them in warmth and love.
"They have an honest and loving relationship, they are very similar people," said professional manager Umberto Marino, "they are an example of how the situation should have been." No less exciting was the post written by their teammate, Matteo Pasina: "In our locker room there is Ruslan And Alexei, who are now at the center of the war. Malinowski is an introverted guy who loves to help and has a strong character, Mirenchuk is quiet and nice, maybe the nicest I've met. "Let's stop the war."
"Football manages to connect"
Malinowski was born in Zhytomyr, about 150 kilometers north of Kiev.
Mirenchuk comes from a small town in the Krasnodar region, and in 2020 the two met in Bergamo and became true friends.
Even though they are competing for more or less the same position on the pitch, it was Malinowski who got Mirenchuk to the team when it came to it from Lokomotiv Moscow, and coached him for the first few months in Italy.
Mirenchuk.
"Human madness is trying to separate", Photo: EPA
Dutch midfielder Marten de Ron said this week that in the wake of recent events - the bond between the two has tightened again: "These are very difficult days, especially for Malinowski, whose whole family is in Ukraine. And Mirenchuk has proved he is a true friend "It's not logical that in 2022 we are talking about wars, but they are talking about other things."
Beyond the message he conveyed about his shirt in the game against Olympiacos, he became active on social media and called on Russia to stop the attack.
Yesterday he shared on Twitter the hard-hitting video of the bombing of the stadium in Kharkiv, mentioning that only two years ago Atalanta played there against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. The captain as a symbolic gesture.
The club - in a sensitive act - refused to do so, so as not to push Miranchuk into the corner.
In any case, as mentioned, Malinowski was injured and was not on the roster. Even without this gesture, Mirenchuk very quickly understood the mood of the stadium, which was painted blue-yellow and with the flags of Ukraine.
When he scored his hair, at the end of a brilliant personal move, he maintained restraint, and even seemed to be apologetic and unable to rejoice while his teammate suffered so much from his homeland acts.
"Football manages to connect what human madness is trying to separate," wrote Pasina, "and that is exactly what Malinowski and Mirenchuk are trying to do now. Were we wrong?"
Fixed!
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And even seems to be one who apologizes and is unable to rejoice while his teammate suffers so much from the actions of his homeland.
"Football manages to connect what human madness is trying to separate," wrote Pasina, "and that is exactly what Malinowski and Mirenchuk are trying to do now. Were we wrong?"
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
And even seems to be one who apologizes and is unable to rejoice while his teammate suffers so much from the actions of his homeland.
"Football manages to connect what human madness is trying to separate," wrote Pasina, "and that is exactly what Malinowski and Mirenchuk are trying to do now. Were we wrong?"
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us