BERNE (SWITZERLAND) (ITALPRESS) – The game with Celtic now seems like a bad memory, a nightmare that must be forgotten quickly in order to reach playoff qualification as soon as possible. Or even better in the round of 16. Gian PieroGasperini’s Atalanta will face Young Boys in the fifth match of the first phase of the Champions League with the goal of snatching three points from the Swiss: three years ago the spectacular 3-3 draw that forced the Bergamasks to play for the passage to the round with Villarreal (the Spaniards won 3-2 in Bergamo relegating the hosts to the Europa League), today the goal is to dominate the challenge on the Wankdorf synthetic so as to place the wheels in the best possible position ahead of the big matches against Real Madrid and Barcelona. “Young Boys? They have done well in the league, we saw the match with Inter,” said the Nerazzurri coach, “if they managed to put them in trouble we have to be careful. It’s a Champions game, we have to be careful. Tomorrow night’s becomes crucial to try to achieve qualification. Synthetic? Surely it’s a better field than it was three years ago. We are not used to playing on these surfaces, we have to adapt quickly, maybe before 20 or 30 minutes.” Good news from the infirmary regarding injuries: Kolasinac and Djimsiti are back available, Scalvini on the other hand was not called up as a precautionary measure. Absent Zappacosta, there is Bellanova instead: instrumental exams have ruled out an injury after a discomfort suffered in the right flexor in the Parma win. Out is Ederson (disqualified for added cautions), in the middle of the field space for the De Roon-Pasalic duo, with Samardzic currently favored over De Ketelaere. In attack Lookman is the European certainty, Retegui, on the other hand, will look for his first cup seal: “I feel good. The goal in Europe? If I don’t do it someone else does, we are doing well in Champions, the goal will come, I have confidence because the coach gives it to me.” Many absentees also in the Young Boys’ house, back from a disastrous first half: four defeats out of four, one goal scored and as many as eleven conceded, data that must be erased as quickly as possible to leave open a small glimmer: “Inter and Atalanta are two extraordinary teams, Atalanta is second and Inter is third. They play in a fantastic way, they mark a lot, we face the team that just won the Europa League. It will be a very strong opponent with good players,” said Joel Magnin, coach of Young Boys. The Swiss coach then wanted to reiterate, “We want to score the first goal in the Champions League against Atalanta (at home, ed.). It’s a small bet we made.” Kickoff at 9 p.m., in case of a win Atalanta can move even closer to qualification hoping also to snatch a place in the top eight: first, however, it will be necessary to defeat the Wankdorf, a stadium where even Inter have struggled a lot.- Photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
