Atalanta, which comes from the Italian city of Bergamo, situated in the Co-Vid19 stricken region of Lombardy, gave some joy to their supporters, after producing another formidable attacking display to confirm their quarter-final place.
UEFA reports “The competition newcomers gave another performance of thrilling attacking verve to amply demonstrate the threat they will pose in the quarter-finals.
Josip Iličić, who struck four goals on the night, wasted little time in building on their commanding 4-1 first-leg lead, thumping a third-minute penalty beyond Jasper Cillessen. He repeated the trick with an equally confident spot kick a minute before half-time, despite Kevin Gameiro having capitalised on uncertain defending to reply for the hosts after 21 minutes.
Potent playmaker Iličić, who had put his team 2-0 up in the first half of the first leg between these entertaining sides, traded goals with Gameiro again after the break. Gameiro’s powerful header and a delicate lob by Ferrán Torres – who had hit the post in Italy – offered Valencia a glimmer of hope at 8-6 on aggregate.
Those faint chances were emphatically extinguished when Iličić sealed his hat-trick by seizing on a pass by substitute Duván Zapata and lashing a fierce drive into the net, before rifling in a fourth from close range with eight minutes left, Zapata again involved in the build-up.”
