BÉRGAMO, Italy (AP) – Atalanta plays “with anger in the eyes and pain in the heart” and this excitement could push the Bergamo team beyond expectations in the Champions League.
The small town of Bergamo is one of the epicentres of the coronavirus epidemic in Italy. More than 6,000 people have been killed by COVID-19 in the province.
Images of a convoy of army trucks chasing coffins out of town because the crematorium may stay were broadcast all over the world.
Since even before the resumption, Atalanta players talk about returning the smile to the faces of their enthusiasts and is one of the groups since the resumption of football.
“We were one of the maximum villages affected by the VirusArray … and they (the players) have been through all this with us,” said Franz Barcella, Atalanta’s subscription holder and managing spouse of Edoné, a bar and cultural area near the team stadium.
“They move, they move by what they say, by what they do, by the way they play. Turns out they’re playing with anger in the eyes and pain in the heart. You can only be proud of a team like this.”
Atalanta face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday. This lace and the rest of the festival will take place in Lisbon.
There will be no enthusiasts there, but Barcella estimates that around 400-500 enthusiasts will be in the outer area of Edoné, watching the game on the big screen, with all the mandatory measures of social estrangement in place.
Atalanta reached the 16th circular with an 8-4 win over Valencia in the 16th circular. The first leg was played on 19 February in Milan and was nicknamed “Game Zero” due to the spread of the disease that followed in northern Italy and Spain.
“Look, it’s hard not to meet other people who were in poor health in Bergamo. That said, saying it for this game is an insult,” said Barcella, who is also in poor health from the virus. “How many other chances do we have of poor health? There were concerts, other parties, crowds on public transport.
“A fit is not the cause of the contagion. That there were mistakes, it is evident even to say that Atalanta-Valencia caused everything to make me laugh. There were a thousand causes, among other things because as a country we were not prepared.”
Matteo Scarpellini, a shopkeeper from Bergamo, also in this one-way match in Milan. Meet other people who suffered health problems soon after, adding a member of an Austrian enthusiasts’ organization.
However, he prefers Atalanta’s 4-1 good fortune that day.
“I’m the party that day was because it was a historic day for us, probably one of the most productive days of our lives, so it bothers us when other people identify this game as the beginning of the virus,” Scarpellini said.
“We’re stupid, we know it affected things too, but when we communicate about this game here in Bergamo, we’re just communicating about the game, we’re communicating what happened after that.”
Atalanta won a back-to-back season in the Champions League by finishing third in Serie A, repeating his functionality last year.
He set a new club record with 78 points.
Winning the Champions League would also be historic, to mention bringing joy to a city and region that has been suffering for months.
When asked if Atalanta could go on, Scarpellini replied: “The brain says no, I’m still a fan, so I say yes. All the other groups are more powerful than us, but I, my team, need to win, I need to (PSG striker Kylian) Mbappé values more than the entire Atalanta.
“But football wants groups like this. A team like this that plays well, a small team, a story to tell. We may not win anything, but we’re going to this team forever.”
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