When the busses transporting the players of the European Cup’s most successful club draw up to the Stadio di Bergamo on Wednesday, those inside will see before them a monument to resistance.
For the visit of Real Madrid, upwardly-mobile Atalanta’s arena will be hosting, for the first time, a knockout tie in the Champions League. The city of Bergamo will be marking a sobering anniversary.
Just over a year ago, Atalanta, in their debut season in Europe’s principal club competition, ‘hosted’ Valencia at the last-16 stage. The inexperience of the Italian club in Europe made the Spaniards clear favourites.
Atalanta's home, the Stadio di Bergamo, did not then have a Uefa licence, and so San Siro was borrowed. For the historic knockout match against Valencia, 40,000-odd travelled the hour or so to Milan.
They would witness what was judged the greatest night in the club’s history – Atalanta 4 Valencia 1. But they would also be part of what the mayor of Bergamo later called “a ticking time-bomb”.
In the following days, the first Covid-19 cases were registered in the Bergamo region. By April, the city’s cemetery was turning away coffins for lack of burial space and Bergamo recording the highest number of excess fatalities in Europe.
The theory took hold that the mass movement of people to and from Milan for the match had exacerbated the outbreak, and even accelerated the virus’s spread into Spain, through those who had travelled to northern Italy to follow Valencia.
A year on, Atalanta are providing solace to a city that suffered early and horribly from the pandemic. They made sure their Champions League adventure was not a one-off.
After the 2020 lockdown, the Atalanta players came within a minute of reaching the semi-finals, beaten by Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in their quarter-final, having been ahead until the 90th minute. In Serie A they again finished in the top four, ahead of a clutch of bigger, richer clubs.
Their reward has been another run to the European Cup knockouts, via group stage wins over Ajax and Liverpool, the latter a tribute to Atalanta's stoicism. They lost 5-0 to the English champions three weeks before beating them 2-0 at Anfield.
Amid the grief for those citizens, including ex-Atlanta players and many supporters, taken by coronavirus, Bergamo takes pride in its resilience, its reputation as a hardy, industrious place. Its football club fits that image.
Atalanta punch over their weight, shrewdly run, and studious nurturers of talent. They have brought in close to €400 million from the sale of players since 2015, the latest gem to return a huge profit being Amad Diallo, the 18-year-old whose transfer to Manchester United could eventually yield €40m.
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Liverpool 0 Atalanta 2 in Champions league: player ratings
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LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker - 6, Made a good first-half save at the near post from Gosens. Alert and quick off the line. Could do little about either goal. EPA -
Neco Williams - 4, Struggled as Atalanta probed down the Liverpool right. Did not generate much threat going forward. AFP -
Joel Matip - 6, Took on the responsibility of leading the defence but was wasteful when on the ball. Withdrawn late on for Minamino as Liverpool chased the game. Getty -
Rhys Williams - 5, The 19-year-old’s inexperience showed on the second goal. Until then he had played well, doing the simple things effectively. EPA -
Konstantinos Tsimikas - 4, The Greek was unable to create much going forward and had his hands full with Hateboer when defending. Should have cut out the threat for the first goal. Replaced by Robertson with a little less than half an hour to go. EPA -
Curtis Jones - 5, Tried to add some thrust to the midfield but was unable to impose much creativity on the game. Getty -
Georginio Wijnaldum - 5, Worked hard closing the opposition down and but had little impact going forward. Taken off for Fabinho with 29 minutes left. AFP -
James Milner - 5, Always in the thick of battle but needed much more precise passing in a game where the team did not function properly. AFP -
Mohamed Salah - 4, Very few sights of goal and his touch was off. Not the Egyptian’s finest performance. Replaced by Firmino in the 61st minute. AP -
Divock Origi - 3, Slows down the attack. The Belgian showed for the ball but did little when it arrived. Withdrawn for Jota with 29 minutes remaining. EPA -
Sadio Mane - 4, Repeatedly ran down dead ends. He usually sets the tempo up front but did not find his groove against a disciplined defence. EPA -
SUBS: Andrew Robertson - 4, Replaced Tsimikas in the 61st minute in a bid to get more drive down the left. It did not work. The Scot let Hateboer bully him at the back post to set up the second goal. Getty -
Diogo Jota - 5, Gave the team a sense of urgency when replacing Origi in the 61st minute but was shut down by the packed defence. Reuters -
Roberto Firmino - 4, On for Salah with 29 minutes left and struggled to make an impression on the game. Disjointed display from the Brazilian. AFP -
Fabinho - 5, Given almost half an hour when Wijnaldum was withdrawn and added some snap in midfield. Rotated into the centre back role when Matip went off. Getty -
Takumi Minamino - 4, Part of a late reshuffle after replacing Matip. The Japanese made little difference in those final seven minutes. EPA -
ATALANTA RATINGS: Pierluigi Gollini – 6, The goalkeeper was not tested by Liverpool and had a surprisingly quiet night at Anfield. EPA -
Rafael Toloi - 7, The Brazilian made a nervous start but grew into the game. He kept things tight and allowed Mane little latitude. Reuters -
Cristian Romero - 8, Dwelt on the ball in the first half and was nearly caught out but otherwise was comfortable and composed. Handled Origi with ease. AP -
Berat Djimsiti - 7, Excelled defensively and distributed the ball nicely when in possession. Rarely worried by Liverpool’s front three. Getty -
Hans Hateboer - 7, Enjoyed his night against Tsimikas and made a fine headed contribution to the second goal. AP -
Marten de Roon - 8, The Dutchman was injured for the reverse fixture in Italy and provided what was missing three weeks ago. He pressed hard and did not allow his opponents time on the ball. EPA -
Matteo Pessina – 6, Used space cleverly when Liverpool had the ball and worked hard up and down the pitch. Replaced by Miranchuk with five minutes left. EPA -
Remo Freuler - 8, Ran the midfield. The Swiss knitted the side together and was effective on the ball. PA -
Robin Gosens - 8, Took his goal beautifully. The German displayed fine movement to take advantage of Liverpool’s static back line. Replaced by Mojica after 75 minutes. EPA -
Josip Ilicic - 7, The Croat’s lack of pace was counterbalanced by clever positioning. Worked his way into a great position to put his side 1-0 up. Replaced by Zapata with 20 minutes to go. EPA -
Papu Gomez - 8, At the heart of his team’s attacks and was busy throughout the game. He provided a splendid cross for the opening goal. AP -
SUBS: Duvan Zapata - 6, On for Ilicic with 20 minutes left. The Colombian was steady as the Italian side closed out the game. Getty -
Johan Mojica - 6, Introduced for the last 15 minutes when Gosens was replaced. Produced an unruffled cameo. EPA -
Aleksei Miranchuk - 5, Given a brief run out when Pessina was withdrawn. The Russian was diligent in his work. AFP
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Diallo had made only a handful of appearances for a dynamic, free-scoring Atalanta. Papu Gomez, meanwhile, was a centrepiece of their soaring success, but after a fallout with manager Gian Piero Gasperini, he left in January for Sevilla. Resilient Atalanta have borne his absence, 23-year-old Matteo Pessina proving a dynamic alternative.
The goals keep flowing, too, three past both AC Milan and Torino in the last month and six past Napoli, across league and Cup, in the space of 11 days. There is enough depth in the squad that Luis Muriel, the Colombian striker, is the top scorer – and his typical starting position is on the bench.
Madrid would envy that sort of back-up. They arrived in Bergamo with nine senior players, including Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal, ruled out with injury.
“I don’t pay much attention to the talk about their players who are missing,” said Gasperini. “In the Champions League Madrid always step up, and the Madrid I’ve watched in the last few Liga matches have been really efficient.”
Zinedine Zidane's team are on a run of four straight wins, and the defence of their domestic title is very much alive, since they closed the gap behind Liga-leaders Atletico Madrid to three points at the weekend.
“We are not the favourites,” added Gasperini, “but this is a chance to measure ourselves, play with freedom and without pressure.
"We’ve held our own against Manchester City and Liverpool in recent seasons, and although sometimes we find it hard to get into rhythm in these sorts of matches, we always grow as a team.”
