Champions League: Why Atalanta has the backing of an entire country

Atalanta have reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League and all of Italy is rooting for the underdogs to defeat PSG.

Teams like Barcelona may have fans around the world, but no club has the backing of an entire nation like Atalanta.

The Bergamo-based club, who are playing in their first-ever Champions League tournament, face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. For Atalanta, a win would put them closer to the final and solidify their place as one of the biggest Cinderella teams in the tournament’s history.

The teams will play in Lisbon, where the remainder of the Champions League will be contested. Atalanta are also the only Serie A club left ion the competition following the elimination of Juventus and Napoli in the Round of 16 this past weekend.

We know that all of Italy will support us and that’s very important for us,” Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia on Tuesday. “We’re sort of like a national team and we hope to do well.”

Not only do Italians have a sweet spot for Atalanta as the country’s lone representative in the tournament, but Bergamo was also the epicenter of the coronavirus that killed over 35,000 people, most of them from northern Italy.

It was earlier in the tournament that Atalanta’s success quickly turned to grief. In UEFA’s zeal to keep the ball rolling on the tournament, the match between Atalanta and Valencia (the second leg won by the Italian club 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals) may have led to more problems.

Health experts later said that the first-leg match between Atalanta and Valencia, played on February 19 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium, may have been what ultimately accelerated the spread of COVID-19. It was just days later that the region was considered a “high-risk” zone for the contagion.

“We carry with us so many emotions from recent months,” Gasperini said. “What happens on the pitch is what counts, but the motivation we bring could be useful.”

Atalanta play a 3-4-1-2 and feature players like strikers Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel who like to play a free-flowing South American-type game. It’s no coincidence given that both Zapata and Muriel are from Colombia and have emerged as two of the most-gifted forwards in Serie A at the moment.

This is a team with no star players, although midfielder Papu Gomez of Argentina may be one of the most-underrated playmakers in the world at the moment. Gomez, like Zapata and Muriel, are journeymen, while the club’s success rests heavily on a youth system that has churned out talent over the last few years.

The team have already qualified for next season’s Champions League after finishing the season in third behind league champions Juventus and Inter Milan. The club has only won one major trophy — a Coppa Italia in 1963 — and could very well reach the Champions League final this month given how they have been playing over the past few months.

Standing in their way is PSG, a team loaded with talent. Despite having Neymar, PSG have been perennial underachievers in the Champions League over the past few seasons. While Atalanta remain underdogs in the single-elimination tournament, they could very well get the best of the French club.

Neutrals around the world and soccer fans across Italy will be tuning in to root for Atalanta.

“We are the only ones left [from Italy],” Gasperini added. “We will try to do well.”