Tue, Jun 02, 2020 page16

• Gasperini revelation stuns Valencia

  • AP
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  When Atalanta BC coach Gian Piero Gasperini was struggling with COVID-19 in the middle of March, the prospect of entering Bergamo’s hospital — which was overflowing with coronavirus patients at the time — made him fear for his life.

  “Every two minutes an ambulance passed by. It seemed like a war,” Gasperini said. “At night, I would think: ‘If go in there [the hospital], what will happen to me?’”

  Fortunately for Gasperini, he quickly recovered and did not have to check into Pope John XXIII hospital.

  

  Atalanta BC head coach Gian Piero Gasperini watches his team play Valencia in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 second leg in Valencia, Spain, on March 10.

  Photo: EPA-EFE

  The coach only recently confirmed that he had the coronavirus when the entire team was tested 10 days ago, he told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published on Sunday.

  The 62-year-old started feeling sick on March 9, a day before Atalanta played at Valencia in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16.

  He said that when he returned to Bergamo, which was quickly becoming the epicenter of the pandemic, “I didn’t have a fever, but I felt destroyed and as if I had a 40°C fever.”

  Many experts have pointed to the first leg between Atalanta and Valencia on Feb. 19 in Milan as one of the biggest reasons why the coronavirus was so deadly in Bergamo.

  The match has been dubbed “Game Zero” by local media.

  With the coronavirus advancing rapidly across Europe, the second leg in Valencia was played without fans. Still, more than 35 percent of Valencia’s team became infected.

  Valencia released a statement later on Sunday to express its “surprise” with the comments made by Gasperini and that no “preventive measures” were taken.

  “Such actions, if this was the case, would have put at risk numerous people during the trip,” Valencia said. “It should be remembered that this game was held behind closed doors amidst strict safety measures, on the order of the Spanish health authorities, to prevent the risk of COVID-19 contagion, precisely due to the presence of persons from an area already publicly classified as ‘at risk’ at that time.”

  More than 16,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the Lombardy region containing Bergamo, which has been one of the hardest-hit cities.

  “It will take years to really understand what happened,” Gasperini said. “Every time I think about it, it seems absurd. The high point of our sporting [achievement] coincided with the city’s deepest pain.”

  “I feel more Bergamasco now,” added Gasperini, who is from Turin.

  Previously the only member of Atalanta who was confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 was reserve goalkeeper Marco Sportiello.

  Atalanta advanced to the quarter-finals 8-4 on aggregate, but have not played since with Serie A not due to restart until June 20.

  “Atalanta can help Bergamo recover, while respecting the pain and those in mourning,” Gasperini said. “It will take time to see people celebrating again in the piazzas or at the airport, but the Bergamaschi keep their fires burning under the ashes.”

  “There isn’t one player who left the city. More than one of them lost weight, which could also be the sign of psychological issues,” he said. “It’s difficult to read everyone’s repressed emotional state. Some of them had their families far away. One thing for sure, though, is that the squad remained connected with Bergamo’s suffering and it will bring that out onto the field.”
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Kevin de Bruyne bids Manchester City farewell

  • 2

    Napoli bag 2nd Serie A title in 3 years

  • 3

    Taiwanese duo knocked out of Malaysia Masters

  • 4

    Cannes Critics’ Week honors ‘Left-Handed Girl’

  • 5

    Taiwan in Time: Adjusting internal borders during the Qing Dynasty