Date: March 9, 2020
Time: 16:00 EST
Location: La Mestalla; Valencia, Spain
Well rested, for all the wrong reasons, Atalanta look to make the quarter finals in an empty Mestalla stadium tomorrow against Valencia. Amid Coronavirus confusion and hysteria, the Champion’s League is looking at unprecedented fixtures with zero fans to experience the matches in person. Beyond just Valencia/Atalanta, PSG/Borussia Dortmund have also followed suit and close the Parc des Princes to fans. Whether other stadiums will continue with this precedent is still to be determined.
Looking ahead to the actual fixture, Atalanta are in the driver’s seat to advance following their 4-1 home win several weeks ago. While a 3-0 Valencia home victory would be sufficient for El Che to advance to the quarterfinals, keeping Atalanta from not finding the net seems an improbable if not impossible task. Not only did La Dea just throw caution to the wind and throw down 7 goals against Lecce two Sunday’s ago, Atalanta has failed to score in a game since October 11, in which Sampdoria held Atalanta’s potent attack to a nil-nil draw.
Beyond Atalanta’s confidence in netting at least 1 goal, Valencia’s form continues to be stagnant. They have only won once in their last 7 matches, and haven’t scored 3 goals since December. In addition with Maxi Gomez sidelined, Valencia will be trading one starting striker for another with Rodrigo coming back into the lineup. While Maxi Gomez was quite poor against Atalanta, his quality will still be missed, and will bring additional pressure to whoever will be Rodrigo’s counterpart up front (most likely Gameiro).
In a way this match feels anti-climactic. With the recent news that Serie A matches will be canceled for the next month, it just seems that football doesn’t have the same intensity, as people’s attention is obviously focused elsewhere. However, this is still a fantastic opportunity for Atalanta to continue their fairy-tale run in the Champion’s League. Atalanta have demonstrated time and time again this season that they really only have 1 speed, and that is to attack. If they can score one goal in the first half it should really be enough to see them through. With Zapata finally coming into form, and Ilicic continuing his dominant form, I feel quite confident, even with a weakened backline that Atalanta should see this through, and reach the Final 8. Now more than ever, even in front of any empty stadium, it’s time to cheer La Dea as hard as possible. With no Serie A to look forward to, we must put all our energy into any game we have the fortune of seeing this year. And as always, Forza La Dea!
