Rome (AFP)

First participation and first round of 16 managed with mastery on Tuesday to go against Valencia (4-1): Atalanta Bergamo and his band of improbable heroes continue their love affair with the Champions League and can now believe in quarters.

"We do not set limits," also recognized after the game the small Argentine striker Alejandro "Papu" Gomez, captain and only player "star", with Josip Ilicic (author of the second goal), of the group without -grade which is revealing itself to football Europe.

Facing Valencia, Hans Hateboer scored a double and Remo Freuler scored a magnificent goal. Have you never heard of them? It's normal. The first arrived in January 2017 from Groningen for a million euros and the second landed a year earlier, coming from Lucerne and for two million euros.

With the equally unknown Timothy Castagne, Robin Gosens or Rafael Toloi, they are in a way the symbols of the progression of the "Dea", the goddess, the nickname of Atalanta.

A modest and provincial club, always in the shadow of the two Milanese giants (the Lombard capital is located less than 50 kilometers from Bergamo), Atalanta has indeed found in recent seasons a balance and a model that have enabled it to come and play at the table of the big Italian clubs, then on the European scene.

Renowned for the quality of its training center, Atalanta has also excelled in recent seasons in "scouting" and the recruitment of players at low cost.

Some were sold very expensive (Kessié, Mancini, Cristante or Kulusevski, who will join Juventus next season), others found their place in the starting 11, like the previous cities or Marten De Roon and José-Luis Palomino, passed by FC Metz.

- the "Gasp" effect -

At the end of the day, Atalanta is playing spoilsports with the 13th payroll in Serie A (36 million euros), less than Cagliari or Bologna and barely more than the annual salary of Cristiano Ronaldo (31M).

The miracle was made possible by the choices of President Antonio Percassi, former club player turned millionaire businessman, but especially thanks to the work of coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who found his revenge on soccer in Bergamo elite.

There is indeed a certain irony in seeing Atalanta bring 45,000 spectators (Bergamo has 120,000 inhabitants) to San Siro for a knockout stage of the Champions League, where AC Milan and Inter Milan no longer have set foot since 2014 and 2012.

Because after having worked miracles at Crotone and Genoa, Gasperini had been chosen in 2011 by Inter ... who did not leave him more than five games before dismissing him.

"Gasp" then descended a notch, first in Palermo then again in Genoa, before leading Atalanta to heights never reached.

With him, the other nerazzurro club won two 4th places in three years, a participation in the Europa League and the apotheosis of the Champions League this season. The C1 is also likely to be there again next May, the Bergamo club is currently 4th with six points ahead of AS Rome, in the midst of a crisis.

And all that with style, since Atalanta, which offers modern, intense and offensive football, is by far the best attack in Serie A (63 goals scored in 24 matches, against 55 at Lazio Rome and 49 at Inter).

What to attract compliments: "Atalanta is today the pride of Italian football, what our football is most beautiful", wrote Thursday morning Gazzetta dello Sport in an editorial.

© 2020 AFP