Thanks to Atalanta’s qualification to the Europa League semi-finals against Liverpool, Italy will officially have five teams instead of four in the next edition of the Champions League.
L’Atalanta lost the second leg of the quarter-finals 1-0 at home Europa League against the Liverpool, but still qualified for the semi-finals by virtue of the historic 3-0 win against the Reds in the first leg at Anfield. An exceptional result for Gasperini’s team, but also very precious for Italian football: Italy will in fact have one more place in the next edition of the Champions League, there will be five instead of four, by virtue of the ranking relating to this season’s results.
The match in Bergamo had started under bad omens and with a hint of fear, given that Klopp’s team had taken the lead shortly after the kick-off, with a penalty kick converted by Salah and awarded due to a handball by Ruggeri confirmed by VAR. It seemed like the start of an evening of passion, but Atalanta did well not to let themselves be crushed and responded blow for blow for the entire match, coming close to equalizing several times.
The result never changed and at the final whistle the party started in Bergamo: Scamacca and his teammates are now waiting in the semi-final for the winner of the other quarter-final between Marseille and Benfica, who are in extra time. Thanks to Fiorentina’s simultaneous victory and qualification for the Conference semi-finals, also having already established that either Roma or Milan would also advance in the Europa League (the Giallorossi qualified), Italy now has an unbridgeable advantage in the seasonal ranking which assigns the two extra spots for the next Champions League.
Tags: Atalanta loses Liverpool semifinals
