Euphoria in Bergamo as Atalanta Pull off Champions League 'miracle'

Milan, Dec 12 (AFP) Atalanta returned home to a heroes' welcome with 2,000 fans braving bitter cold in the Alps in northern Italy after the Bergamo team reached the Champions League last 16 in their debut campaign despite losing their first three matches.

Coach Gian Piero Gasperini hailed a "victory for Italian football" after joining Serie A rivals Juventus and Napoli in the knockout rounds, with Inter Milan the only absentee after losing 2-1 to Barcelona at the San Siro on Tuesday.

The team greeted fans on board an open-top bus at Bergamo airport in the early hours of Thursday morning, amid fireworks, singing and banners, following what the Italian press hailed a "miracle" comeback.

"Historical Atalanta," headlined Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Dea (Goddess, the team's nickname) are in paradise," wrote Turin daily Tuttosport.

"Gasperini is a Magician," continued Corriere dello Sport on their front page.

Atalanta, a club with a 112-year history, had to wait until their fourth group game to earn their first point in a draw against Manchester City, before sealing their berth with a 3-0 win away to Shakhtar Donetsk.

"It's a victory for Bergamo, for all of Atalanta, from the fans to the management to the players and the staff," said Gasperini.

Atalanta, whose only major title was an Italian Cup in 1963, were relegated from Serie A in 2003, 2005 and 2010.

Gasperini took over in 2016 after leaving Genoa, and guided them to third last season to reach the Champions League for the first time.

"To see Atalanta like this, after the difficult years it had 10 years ago ... among the best 16 teams in Europe, how can one not feel joy?" said Atalanta fan Andrea Magioni on the streets of the city.

- 'Gift to city of Bergamo' -

=============================

The Italians, forced to play their home games at Milan's San Siro, 55km from Bergamo, joined Manchester City in the knockout stages from Group C as Dinamo Zagreb lost 4-1 to the English champions in Croatia.

"It's a gift to the entire city of Bergamo," said local Battista Negri.

Chiara Nosari added: "We were eating out, and the whole restaurant went mad, the second half was extraordinary ... it was a unique feeling."

Timothy Castagne, Mario Pasalic and Robin Gosens scored in the second half for the side who finished third in Serie A last season to reach the top tier of European football for the first time.

"Outside the stadium here in Kharkiv I saw people crazy with joy," said Gasperini.

"This strong bond gave us the impetus to succeed.

"We are happy for us but also for Italian football.

"We deserved this because we grew during a difficult and high level competition.

"We started to believe with the draw against Manchester City, we improved in every area."

Atalanta's success came despite the absence of star striker Duvan Zapata, with Josip Ilicic and Rafael Toloi also out on Wednesday.

"We can miss important players, but retain this belief in ourselves, this quality in our approach.

"We are solid, no matter what happens," added the Atalanta coach, who has no preference for their opponent in the last 16.

"They're all so strong, it doesn't matter who we are up against.

"Maybe some prefer Paris Saint-Germain for the Moulin Rouge: for sure we hope to take our fans to a beautiful city for the away game."

Atalanta return to Serie A action on Saturday against Bologna as they sit sixth in the table, one point off the Champions League places. AFP

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)