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MILAN – A little over a year after “Game Zero”, Atalanta is back in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Last year’s game, against Valencia in Milan on February 19, was the most important in club history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to San Siro for what happened. turned out to be a 4-1 win.
Soon after, military trucks were chasing coffins from Bergamo because the crematorium could not keep pace as the small town became one of the epicenters of the coronavirus epidemic in Italy.
The match was dubbed “Game Zero” due to the spread of the disease that followed in both northern Italy and Spain.
More than 40,000 fans inside the stadium enthusiastically celebrated each of Atalanta’s four goals that day – the last time the team played in front of their own supporters.
Atalanta will host Real Madrid in the first leg of the round of 16 on Wednesday at an empty, recently refurbished Gewiss stadium.
“It certainly takes a lot away from us,” said Atalanta forward Luis Muriel. “I think for the people of Bergamo not being able to attend these big events – especially playing in our own stadium and not like last year when we played in Milan – is a big disappointment.
“These moments should certainly be shared with them. They have always been close to a team that for so many years has always fought for the lower places. It’s sad not to be able to play these matches with the fans. “
There is a huge gap between 13-time European champions Real Madrid and Atalanta, who are only making their second appearance in the competition. But Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini believes it could help his team.
“We have the enthusiasm,” he said. “We’re not used to playing these games, but they played against teams more famous than us.
“For us, this remains an event. We have additional motivation. “
Atalanta has done well against more historic opposition before. The team beat Liverpool at Anfield in the group stage of this year’s competition and were also within minutes of beating Paris Saint-Germain in last year’s quarter-finals.
Real Madrid traveled to Bergamo with a team decimated by injuries. Forward Karim Benzema did not recover in time and stayed in Spain, alongside Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard, Marcelo, Dani Carvajal, Fede Valverde, Rodrygo Goes, Alvaro Odriozola and Eder Militao.
“We have to be very careful, because with all the absences of Real I have no doubts that we will find a team that is even more alert and even more focused,” said Gasperini.
“Real are one of the strongest teams in the world. I can’t really say how much of a percentage gap there is with us, but I can say we’ve always given something more in these type of games and gone up a level.
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