Atalanta just earned their Champions League spot not so long ago, in the late 2010s. They have never tasted the elite competition in the previous era since this Lombardy-based club did not have a chance to win Serie A, the only ticket to qualify to this top tier tournament prior to the 1990s. Their compact home base, Gewiss Stadium, which could hold more than 20,000 spectators was not initially approved by UEFA for playing in the Champions League in their debut. Consquently, La dea had to play elsewhere and picked San Siro as their home turf. In 2020, the venue was finally accepted by the European football governing body and is ready to stage matches for European nights with great atmosphere.
Their brief appearances in the Champions League might not be possible without the influential role of their distinguished manager, Gian Gasperini and his men such as Papu Gomez, Josip Illicic, Robin Gosens, Jose Palomino, Duvan Zapata, Luis Muriel and Rafael Toloi. The former Genoa boss has made an impressive overturn in the club which normally was stuck at the mid lower table of Serie A.
Top Achievement
La Dea’s top achieve in UEFA champions league was surely in their debut, the 2019/20 season. Papu Gomez and Co could advance to the quarter final stage before eventually losing to PSG 1-2.
Their next best result was in 2020/21 when he could qualify from the group stage despite being seeded with Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the experienced Real Madrid ended their campaign in the round of 16.
Iconic Moments in the Champions League
Atalanta’s noteworthy games in the Champions league are not that many yet. The first one would be in the round of 16 of 2019/20 season. Gasperini’s men hammered Valencia 8-4 in aggregate leading to the quarter final. The next ones were the two important away victories at the group stage of 2020/21 season. La Dea managed to thump Liverpool 2-0 in Anfield plus 1-0 in a decisive match versus Ajax at Johan Cruyff Arena.
Beside the glorious moments, there have been some bitter ones too. The 1-2 defeat against PSG was the first one. Despite taking the lead first through Mario Pasalic, Le Parisien made a comeback win as Marquinhos and Erick Chopo-mouting found the back of the net.
The other ones were two losses at home, being romped over by The Reds 0-5 at the 2020/21 groups stage and dismantled by Real Madrid in 0-1 in the round of 16 through a single rather late goal of Ferland Mendy.
