Atalanta and Roma, and their destinies in the Europa League and Conference League
The fate of the two Italian teams still competing in continental competitions is contained in the Europa League and Conference
When the Rai programming was compartmentalized, with the television drama on Sunday, the film on Monday, the Champions Cup on Wednesday and variety on Saturday evening, Thursday was the day of the quiz.
Risk it all
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Here, Italian football, on the sidelines of the Champions League (and the next World Cup) jingle, was reduced to the evening of the Rischiatutto. We have only the Europa League and Conference League left. The last thing you scream is “Cheer!” by Mike Bongiorno. Given the spectacle offered on Sunday by Juve and Inter, that is, by the teams that have won the last ten league titles, it is difficult to expect more. The coach who signed the last European triumph of an Italian club 12 years ago, Josè Mourinho, remains in the running: Inter, Champions 2009-10; and that, Gian Piero Gasperini, who for years has been distributing the best business card of our football in Europe.
The goddess
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The courageous and pressing Atalanta, who arrived two years ago just a stone’s throw from the Champions League semifinal, prepared Mancini’s Euro-triumph that they won with a similar football. The Goddess is experiencing a difficult period, perhaps physiological after an exciting, but also exhausting, five-year period of Gasp who always demands the maximum, especially in the head. Too many technical or careless mistakes. Even against Napoli. As if Atalanta struggled to detach themselves from a certain childish lightness which, in the end, however, is the secret of their fascinating game. It is no coincidence that he gave his best in the cup (4 wins out of 4 in the Europa League): the magic of international nights requires more concentration. There is no risk that Leipzig will be underestimated. The 4-1 at Borussia Dortmund was a disturbing gauntlet. Intensity, physicality, technique in speed: the principles of Atalanta expressed at their best. What the Spaniard Olmo can do, scoring in Dortmund, the Goddess already discovered in the traumatic debut in the Champions League: 4-0 in Zagreb. What the French Nkunku can do, scoring in Dortmund, according to the 16 goals in the Bundesliga. André Silva did not leave AC Milan inconsolable, but he knows how to score. It will take the best Atalanta and maybe a pinch of Zapata, on the bench, to reach a semifinal that seems softer. The Europa League would not only be the door to the next Champions League, which disappeared in the league, it would also be the trophy that is missing from this golden cycle to dance around. Less exciting to dance around a Conference League, born badly, like Europa League B. The generic drug that costs less.
Mou rematch
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But that’s what’s left for Roma to make sense of the season, after failing all other goals. For Mou it is also an opportunity to avenge the most disheartening defeat of his brilliant career: Bodo Glimt-Roma 6-1 in October. That wound was a watershed. Mou threw half a team into the stands and redefined the transfer market. Today it is a completely different Rome, in men and in form. Good for the Special One that there is also a whole other Bodo. Among the four parties, also Berg and Botheim who signed three goals out of six. The Norwegians have just started the championship, it’s August for them. This time Rome will have to work hard to get hurt, but we thought that even before Italy-Macedonia. Mourinho, who has individualities not inferior to leaders Milan and therefore is indebted to results, has recently found more balance and more defensive solidity. Winning a cup, however small, would help a young team to become aware of its personality. This is the meaning of a quiz Thursday. Let us hope for good answers from Mrs Longari. Long last.
April 7 – 08:25
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