Atalanta Europa League Champions Celebrate Triumphant Homecoming with 3-0 Victory Over Torino

The majority of the soaking wet spring has seen rain and storms pound northern Italy, but the sun shone brightly at the Gewiss Stadium as supporters applauded the club that defeated Leverkusen by the same score on Wednesday in the Europa League final. After winning their first European trophy—their first significant honor of any kind since 1963—and earning a Champions League spot, Atalanta could have been excused for merely going through the motions in a celebratory setting.

Nevertheless, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team crushed Torino to climb up to fourth place and offer themselves a chance to match their best-ever third-place finish if they win their remaining match against Fiorentina next weekend.

After a typically daring display against poor Torino, Atalanta’s boisterous home crowd erupted in “we’re the champions of Europe!” as the squad paraded the Europa League trophy on the pitch to further cries of “thank you, lads.”

With constant rumors of talks with Napoli, who ended their miserable year as reigning champions with a goalless draw against Lecce, Gasperini’s future has been the talk of the town in Bergamo.

The 66-year-old, who has been in charge since 2016, had previously said that Napoli was a lovely woman who would persuade him to leave his wife, but he vowed to stick with her after Sunday’s victory.

“After eight years you can get to the stage when you feel some tiredness and think that maybe next year is the time to make a change,” Gasperini told DAZN.
It’s common for both parties to consider these issues carefully. However, we’re all going to be glad that we’re going to remain together.”

A loud “we’re gonna win the league!” chant broke out from the audience as Gasperini raised the trophy to thunderous applause.

“Fans must have dreams. A realistic Gasperini then told reporters, “It’s right that they have big dreams, but if you ask me if we can win the Scudetto, I have to say no.”

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Duvan Zapata, who is on loan from Atalanta at Torino, was welcomed by supporters in the Curva Nord section prior to the game with hugs, a scarf, and a large bottle of local wine.

Former Colombian striker Zapata spearheaded the line for the exciting Atalanta squad, which was terribly unfortunate to lose to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020 Champions League quarterfinals due to Covid-19.

The pandemic’s epicenter in Europe was Bergamo, and Atalanta has been a bright spot for a severely damaged city. “Thank you for this fantastic season” was written on a large banner that fans held up as Atalanta left the field under a guard of honor.

The hat-trick hero of Wednesday night, Ademola Lookman, was once again on target as he swept in the hosts’ second goal shortly before halftime. Halfway through the first half, in-form striker Gianluca Scamacca celebrated his Italy call-up with a stunning finish.

As the hosts celebrated Champions League football and let loose in their gleaming new stadium, the contrast between Atalanta and Torino, a much more distinguished team, was evident both on and off the field.

In the 71st minute, Mario Pasalic added a third goal from the penalty spot, but Atalanta had three goals disallowed, one of which was for a very soft-looking foul by Scamacca. This gave them an even greater advantage.

With his winner in the third minute of stoppage time, M’Baye Niang propelled Empoli to Serie A safety as the Tuscans defeated Roma 2-1 and demoted Frosinone to Serie B.

After Niang’s dramatic victory, Frosinone lost 1-0 to Udinese and fell into the bottom three, one point behind Empoli, to become the final team to be demoted to the second tier.

Champions Inter Milan drew 2-2 at Verona to cap off their incredible season.