Nothing I can write will be illuminating. We all know the task at hand. The most important match in Atalanta’s history, do or die against arguably the best club in the world this season.
Understandably, Atalanta is the underdog, but we’re used to that. All of Italy has been waiting for La Dea to fall back down to their appropriate place in Serie A for provincial teams. Five years and counting… It still has not happened, and hopefully it never happens.
And maybe it will never happen, as it is not in Atalanta’s DNA to fold. There’s an ethos that reverberates through the club, that anything is possible. We proved it once again this year by clawing back into the Top 5, guaranteeing Champion’s League, and winning convincingly at Anfield as the most severe of underdogs. A great season would turn into a perfect season by adding a third tidbit to that last phrase!
I am not quoting it perfectly, but I remember some absurd statistic before the Europa League quarterfinals giving Liverpool around a 60% chance to win the entire tournament. That translated to roughly an 85% chance of individually winning each of the last three phases. While obvious Premier League bias and disrespect to leagues all over Europe, it serves as the perfect reminder that anything can happen – especially in one game do or die situations.
In this glorious era of football where wage bill and results don’t live in perfect harmony, both Leverkusen and Atalanta embody how projects can be successful when players, ownership, and maybe most importantly coaching are all on the same wavelength. Leverkusen’s squad isn’t too dissimilar to the one Atalanta played in the Round of 16 Europa League two years ago. Everyone now knows the reformation that took place when Xabi Alonso came on board, and Leverkusen has been propelled to the stratosphere. Get the right voice, at the right time, for the right project – and amazing things can happen.
This obviously encapsulates the last decade in Bergamo. Who knows where Atalanta would be without Gasperini. Perhaps more importantly, who knows where we would be if the Percassis were as trigger happy as your standard run-of-the-mill owner in Italy. Gasperini would have been polishing off his resume after finishing 8th a few years back. Game knows game, and it is obvious to say, but this trophy would be the perfect finishing touch to the most golden of chapters in Atalanta’s history.
In a weird way, without getting too forward, Atalanta does head down a different path after this match. Berat Djimsiti remains the only hold over who will start from the early Champion’s League teams, almost harshly poetic that both captain and vice-captain who have been the caretakers for so long do not play due to fitness. But the team that they watched over and helped to grow is ready to take the next step. The Old Guard can confidently watch a new exciting crop take the reigns and comfortably hold its own. Funny that the biggest test comes immediately.
Obviously we want to win, but win or lose – there’s so many fond memories to look back with on this squad and season. Even giving fans the chance to have their stomache’s churn for ninety minutes is enough of a gift. Let’s embrace it, because in the fickle world of football squads can only prepare so much to give fans that feeling season after season. In our case, we’re positioned well for the aura of European nights, but let’s get lost in the moment Wednesday night, and hope its a night that never ends for all the right reasons. We go this – let’s do it! As always, Forza Atalanta!
