4-1 against Valencia – Freuler scores at Atalanta’s gala victory
Atalanta Bergamo wins the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Valencia 4-1 and is very close to Europe’s top eight as a newcomer to the competition. The Swiss international Remo Freuler scored well for the meantime 3: 0.
20.02.2020
–
–
—
Just over a month ago, Atalanta Bergamo played its Champions League game against Valencia in exile in San Siro in front of almost 45,000 spectators. Today there is a suspicion that the game was a strong driver for the corona virus.
The risk of a Covid 19 infection was and is devastating, especially in northern Italy. Shocking news is dripping in almost every minute. Bergamo is considered the epicenter of the coronavirus, with currently one death per half hour. The city is therefore also called the Wuhan of Italy.
In the last few days there have been some hypotheses as to why the pandemic is raging worst in the heart of Lombardy. The most plausible theory is also probably the saddest.
Ironically, the high point in the history of Atalanta is said to have been the accelerator for the deadly virus. On February 19, Bergamo played in the Champions League against Valencia. Because the domestic stadium “Gewiss Stadium” did not meet the Uefa guidelines, Nati player Remo Freuler and his teammates had to play their first round of 16 in exile in San Siro. However, the new venue was also a great opportunity for the club management, the fans and the footballers of “La Dea” (German: Goddess).
Bittersweet triumph
Instead of 21,300 tickets at home, double was sold. 2’500 guest fans from Valencia were announced, 40’000 people traveled on the game day by car, bus or train from Bergamo to Milan, 60 kilometers away. Finally, 44’236 spectators were reported – club record.
The time-honored San Siro actually offers space for almost 80,000 spectators, but the top ring has been closed for some time due to structural problems. So only as many sectors as needed were opened for the game. The measure was a stroke of luck for the mood among the euphoric fans, especially since their team beat the Spaniards 4: 1.
Atalanta fans celebrate their team in Milan.
Image:Getty
What the unsuspecting fans from Bergamo could not know: 540 followers came from Val Seriana alone, a valley with a lot of industry – and an infection source. Two weeks after the fateful encounter – after the end of the incubation period – the number of cases in Bergamo and the surrounding area rose rapidly, as the “Tages-Anzeiger” writes. Even if it is difficult to determine the chain of events due to the distance in time and the number of people, in Italy one speaks of the «partita zero».
Valencia players unlucky, Bergamo players lucky
The fact that the Corona virus spread in the crowded crowd in San Siro is also the thesis of Fabiano Di Marco. In an interview with “Corriere della Sera”, the head of a renowned clinic chose drastic words: “The game between Atalanta and Valencia in San Siro was a biological bomb”. A well-known virologist supports the thesis and is of the opinion that there was so much mucus and saliva in the air in the collective euphoria that many became infected.
Two weeks later for the second leg, UEFA’s awareness of the disease was different, but the match in Valencia was not canceled, although the number of cases in Valencia increased. Atalanta again won the ghost game thanks to four-time goal scorer Josip Ilicic.
A few days later, Valencia announced that 35 percent of the club’s employees had tested positive for the SARS CoV-2 virus. According to the “Tages-Anzeiger”, however, it is not necessarily proven that all infected people can be traced back to the encounters with the Northern Italians. Between the two dates, Valencia played with Atalanta in the Spanish championship against Deportivo Alavés, the club from Vitoria. And just before that, sixty people were infected at a funeral. To date, however, no Atalanta Bergamo player has miraculously been tested positive.
