The Goddess of Europe. The Irish sky is tinged with black-blue, the colors of Atalanta who outclasses the German champions Bayer Leverkusen against predictions (51 games in the season without ever losing, until yesterday) with a clear 3 to 0 and wins the Europa League, the first historic international trophy in its history.
It is the first trophy in his coaching career for Gian Piero Gasperini, 66 years old, former Pescara midfielder from 1985 to 1990 (160 appearances and 21 goals): «I’m happy, I thank the boys for this great performance», he said, « we were good at never setting limits. And I dedicate this trophy to the city of Bergamo. Last Wednesday’s defeat in the Italian Cup was difficult for us, we had the feeling that we hadn’t played it all the way. And we poured all the energy we had inside onto the field. And what the Italian fans have conveyed to us in recent days.”
Gasperini arrives on the top of Europe after a long apprenticeship that began in the youth sector of Juventus, then in C at Crotone and in B at Genoa. He has led Atalanta since 2016: in eight years he took the Bergamo team to the Champions League, to the final of the Italian Cup and, last night, to the top of Europe, winning the great title that Italian football had lacked for 25 years (when it was UEFA Cup, Parma victory).
Pescara does not forget its former captain, who for many was already a coach on the pitch at the time. Social media is flooded with memories, photos and compliments from Pescara athletes and professionals linked to the Dauphin who remember Gasp’s exploits as a footballer and today’s ones as a coach.
In the triumph of the Goddess there is also a bit of Abruzzo. Since 2022, Atalanta’s sporting director is the 44-year-old Tony D’Amico from Pescara, born in Popoli and former Chieti midfielder.
