Night To Remember Forever As Debutants Atalanta Thrash Valencia
20th February 2020
It was an extraordinary night for the side from Bergamo who travelled to the San Siro with over 40,000 of their fans as their home stadium 55km away does not meet UEFA regulations
- Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini hailed a performance his club will "remember forever" after the Italian side crushed Valencia 4-1 on Wednesday to take a giant step closer to reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time
- Dutch wing-back Hans Hateboer scored twice on 16 and 62 minutes, sandwiching goals from Josip Ilicic and Remo Freuler.
- Valencia, seventh in La Liga, had finished top of their group after away wins over Ajax and Chelsea but were missing several key players through injury and suspension.
MILAN,
Italy- Atalanta
coach Gian Piero Gasperini hailed a performance his club will "remember
forever" after the Italian side crushed Valencia 4-1 on Wednesday to take
a giant step closer to reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the
first time.
Dutch wing-back Hans Hateboer scored twice on 16 and 62
minutes, sandwiching goals from Josip Ilicic and Remo Freuler.
"This is an evening that we'll remember forever,"
said Gasperini. "It's an amazing result, full of emotion."
It was an extraordinary night for the side from Bergamo who
travelled to the San Siro with over 40,000 of their fans as their home stadium
55km away does not meet UEFA regulations.
Denis Cheryshev pulled one back for Valencia in the first
leg of the last-16 tie at the San Siro, the same stadium where the Spanish side
lost the 2001 final to Bayern Munich on penalties.
Valencia, seventh in La Liga, had finished top of their
group after away wins over Ajax and Chelsea but were missing several key
players through injury and suspension.
"It certainly complicates things a bit, it's a pretty
overwhelming result, this 4-1," said Valencia coach Albert Celades.
"In the end it doesn't reflect much what we saw on the
pitch."
Atalanta's run comes despite losing their opening three
Champions League group games, before finishing second behind Manchester City.
"Three goals ahead is a nice reward," added
Gasperini. "But there were a lot of dangerous situations, these are things
we'll need to improve in Valencia.
"We are satisfied with this victory and above all with
this advantage.
"Yesterday I would have signed to go to Valencia in the
return game with a three-goal lead."
The tournament debutants dominated the first half with Mario
Pasalic having their first chance on eight minutes, but Valencia goalkeeper
Jaume Domenech pushed the ball over the bar at full stretch.
Hateboer opened the scoring just after quarter of an hour,
though, meeting a low Gomez cross to poke past Domenech for his first goal of
the season.
Ferran Torres struck the post for Valencia on the half-hour
mark, before Eliaquim Mangala missed a chance to connect with Goncalo Guedes'
shot across the face of goal.
Marten de Roon and Gomez both fired over before Ilicic
collected Pasalic's pass and drilled a powerful right-footed strike into the
top corner three minutes before half-time.
- 'Clear result' -
Gasperini's side put the result on the night beyond any
doubt 12 minutes after the break as Freuler curled in a magnificent third from
the edge of the box.
Hateboer completed his brace five minutes later, ensuring
that Atalanta's 12 goals in their first Champions League campaign have been
scored by 10 different players.
Maxi Gomez had a golden chance to pull a goal back on the
hour mark for the visitors but his weak effort was brilliantly saved by
Pierluigi Gollini in the Atalanta goal.
Cheryshev came off the bench and immediately scored in the
66th minute, pouncing on a poor Jose Luis Palomino pass to give Valencia an
away goal and a glimmer of hope to take into the second leg on March 10 at the
Mestalla.
"We had opportunities and we didn't finish them,"
said Celades.
"The result is clear enough today, but it's not
impossible (to turn around). Let's see what happens at Mestalla, let's play
well in our stadium."