Wow! They did it! While the game was never really in doubt after Ilicic’s penalty in the 3rd minute, it still feels incredible that Atalanta gets to continue their historic run through the Champion’s League. To commemorate advancing through the round of 16, here’s 16 points to go live, relish, and improve upon before the quarterfinals.
16. Chapeau to the Valencia faithful- even with an empty Mestalla, they were still chanting and cheering outside as if they were right there in the stadium.
15. Coronavirus can empty stadiums, but it can’t take empty the passion of the Bergamesco faithful- classy gesture by La Dea dedicating their game to Bergamo and Lombardy as a whole.
14. Josip Ilicic
13. Jose Luis Palomino has many moments of brilliance, but El Gaucho is easily one of the clumsiest players I’ve ever seen on the pitch.
12. Rafael Toloi is a delight in defense, and is the heartbeat of the back three- It’s very obvious when he’s not on the pitch distributing out of the back.
11. Gasperini will never change- even with the game in hand in the last ten minutes, his club’s still charging ahead looking to sarge whoever lies in their path.
10. Josip Ilicic
9. Duvan Zapata is nearly back to full strength- he was excellent today holding the ball up and putting a damper on Valencia frantic attacks.
8. Remo Freuler may be the most underrated player on the club- whenever the game’s getting hectic, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time to make a key tackle or key pass to bring the momentum back in Atalanta’s favor.
7. It’s evident that empty stadiums throw off team chemistry- both Atalanta and Valencia seem slightly put off by the lack of fans, and were very sloppy in the first half. Fortunately for Atalanta they got their first empty stadium game out of the way in a match that was all but settled.
6. Valencia were able to create chances that Atalanta’s future opposition will also do- Parejo and company were able to get the ball into the box quite frequently, fortunately for Atalanta their finishing wasn’t clinical. Atalanta may not be so lucky next round, and need to be crisper in their back third.
5. Josip Ilicic
4. With no Serie A for at least the next month, how will Atalanta respond?- The added rest will be great, but will lack of competitive games be a detriment to Atalanta’s momentum?
3. Let’s hope nothing serious has happened to Gollini- Sportiello filled in nicely, but what the hell was he doing on Valencia’s 3rd goal? While Gollini may be average in his shot-stopping ability, he’s very intelligent without the ball in his hands
2. Atalanta are on the cusp of being the People’s Choice of the Champion’s League- each year there’s a team that takes the Champion’s League by storm, similar to Ajax last year or Roma several years ago. With Germany’s negative sentiment about RB Leipzig, Atalanta are in the position to be the neutrals choice throughout the quarterfinals.
1. Josip Ilicic- what else is there to say? The guy is a magician, and is putting together an historical season. Perhaps the 2nd best left foot in football behind Messi? I’ll let you be the judge.
Well, I think that covers it. We don’t really know when we’ll get our next Atalanta match, but if there was ever a match to look back at and hold onto for an indefinite amount of time, this one is it. Thanks Atalanta for your memorable run, and giving your Bergamo faithful hope amid the problems hitting our world right now. As always, Forza Atalanta!!!
