At 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Paris-Saint-Germain will face Italian club Atalanta Bergamo in the Champions League quarter-final, which will take place in Lisbon. A poster eagerly awaited by PSG supporters, confident despite the avalanche of injuries affecting the Parisian club. On the Italian side, the fervor is not the least. Because in Bergamo, we do not joke with our club. For ten years, each newborn has received a club jersey as a gift. At the origin of this initiative, there is Enrico Percassi, ingenious president. "If you are from Bergamo, you cannot not love Atalanta," he assures us.
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A workforce built over four years
In this city of 120,000 inhabitants 50 km north-east of Milan, the contrast is striking between her discretion and the passion she has for her team. However, the club has long been confined to supporting roles, or even to the second division of the Italian championship. Four years ago, the moult takes place. Enrico Percassi hires Gian Piero Gasperini, an Italian coach with modest credentials but adept at attacking football.
The latter built his workforce piece by piece until the historic qualification of his team for the Champions League. On the pitch, there are no big international stars, unlike Neymar and Mbappé's PSG, but a sparkling game that has won over observers of European football. In the Serie A season which has just ended, Papu Gomez, Marten de Roon, Duvan Zapata and their teammates finished third in the championship.
A historic victory after the Covid-19 nightmare?
The course of the club in the Champions League was however "difficult", entrusts the coach to the newspaper L'Equipe , then interrupted by the pandemic. On February 19, in the round of 16 first leg, Atalanta had received the Spaniards from Valencia, almost at home. Due to a too small stadium, the 40,000 supporters made the trip to Milan for a triumphant victory, 4 goals to 1. A meeting which will undoubtedly contribute to the spread of Covid-19, still not very widespread in Europe. 'time. During the return match, in Valencia, the last match before the interruption of the competition, coach Gian Piero Gasperini had revealed to be suffering from the virus.
The city of Bergamo and Lombardy have paid a heavy price for the epidemic: there have been nearly 17,000 deaths in the region. A victory, barely out of the nightmare, would be historic and rich in emotion for the players, the club and all the Italian supporters.
Discover the podcast "Associate n ° 1, the birth of a great club in Paris"
Did you know that Paris Saint-Germain almost didn't see the light of day? Its hatching, 50 years ago, is even a miracle. The club owes its survival only to the steel will of passionate men.
Discover this story in "Partner n ° 1, the birth of a great club in Paris", the new podcast of Europe 1 Studio, and go back in time to the origins of PSG.
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