LISBONNE, Portugal (AP) – Thus, Atalanta’s dream in the Champions League ended.
Two goals beaten 3 minutes away ended Atalanta’s remarkable streak and thwarted the hopes of fans at the home of Bergamo, the small Italian who hit hard through the coronavirus pandemic.
The team won the European trophy ended in a 2–1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals on Wednesday in Lisbon.
“I can thank my players. We were very close, very close,” said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
Atalanta took the lead at the Estadio de la Luz thanks to Mario Pa’ali’s goal in the first half, but Marquinhos tied in the 90s and Eric Choupo-Moting scored the winning goal in the third minute of the time off.
It was a heartbreaking ending to Atalanta’s first appearance at Europe’s largest club festival, a festival that had become bigger than the game after coronavirus killed more than 6,000 people in Bergamo. Atalanta’s players had been the city from the beginning and said they sought to bring joy back to their enthusiasts after months of suffering.
“Right now it’s pretty painful, ” said Roon’s Atalanta Marten. “Tomorrow I’ll be proud of our team and our club, but at the moment I’m disappointed.”
Back in Bergamo, the enthusiasts remained incredibly proud of their players, none of whom had left the city at its darkest and one of the strictest lockdowns in the world.
A few months ago, the people of Lombardy, where Bergamo is located, were allowed to leave their homes for fundamental desires such as food or fitness emergencies.
Fans still can’t enter the stadium – some Atalanta fans have made the holidays to Lisbon – but about three hundred of them piled up in Edoné, a bar and a cultural area near the team’s stadium.
On the warm night and under picturesque luminous garlands, they savagely celebrated Pa’ali’s purpose, applauded each and every impediment and each and every intelligent move of his players, and grabbed their heads with surprise and groaned the past pain.
“Atalanta already won and the town already won because five months ago, when Atalanta beat Valencia and we were in our darkest days, an evening like the afternoon seemed at the time because we were simply feeling the worst moment, concern for our most productive moments.” friends, to care about ourselves, to worry about our family,” said Franz Barcella, 38, Atalanta’s subscription holder and associate director of Edoné.
“And at that moment, one night, a summer afternoon in general, drinking, watching a game or watching a movie seemed in Bergamo. So already be here with our friends, take a pizza, hug, laugh Array … it’s like a dream, it’s like joy again.
Atalanta reached 16 with an 8-4 win over Valencia in the 16th. Northern Italy and Spain.
Images of a convoy of army trucks chasing coffins outside the city of Bergamo because the crematorium could stay were broadcast all over the world.
“Tonight is not the quarter-finals of the Champions League. For us, it’s much more,” Barcella added.
Atalanta will have the chance to triumph in the Champions League next season after re-qualifying thanks to a 3rd position in Serie A, repeating their most productive result of a year ago.
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Matar reported from Bergamo.
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Azzoni Tales on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni