Gian Piero Gasperini, the coach of Atalanta Bergamo, qualified for the Europa League final after their 3-0 victory against Marseille on Thursday in the semi-final second leg, felt that his team could inspire others who live like her without pomp.
“We are going to play a historic match for Bergamo, for a small town, a small club,” he declared at a press conference after his team’s victory against Marseille. “It’s a hope for other clubs like us. We talk a lot about the SuperLeague but Atalanta can give hope to other clubs. Meritocracy is good.”
The “Dea” will face Bayer Leverkusen, who defeated Roma (2-0 in the first leg, 2-2 in the return), in the Europa League final, on May 22 in Dublin.
“Leverkusen has a similar path to Atalanta,” Gasperini said. “It’s not a team of big transfers, big numbers, the numbers loved by TV. But we don’t always need millions to play football.”
Atalanta, which only won one Italian Cup in 1963, can double or even triple its record in two weeks with the Italian Cup, the final of which it will play on May 15 against Juventus Turin, and the Europa League against Leverkusen therefore.
She owes it a lot to her emblematic coach, at her bedside for eight seasons, an eternity in football.
Jean-Louis Gasset, the Marseille coach who arrived on mission in February at OM, which he will leave at the end of the season after a few months, envied this situation.
“The consistency in football makes this club work well. This coach, he built a group in his image, playing very aggressively but with a lot of good players. I think Atalanta is working well,” he said, admiringly.
