ATALANTA COACH GIAN Piero Gasperini has revealed he thought he would die as he suffered coronavirus symptoms when the Italian club played their Champions League match against Valencia in March.
Gasperini told Gazzetta Dello Sport that he was sick when Atalanta beat Valencia 4-3 behind closed doors at the Mestalla on 10 March, to reach the quarter-finals with an 8-4 aggregate victory.
“The day before the Valencia game I was sick, the afternoon of the game worse. I didn’t look good on the bench,” said Gasperini.
“It was 10 March. The following two nights in Zingonia [Atalanta's training centre] I slept little. I didn’t have a fever, but I felt shattered, like I had one of 40.
“An ambulance passed every two minutes. There is a hospital nearby. It seemed like a war zone. At night I thought: ‘if I go in there, what happens to me’?
I can’t go now, I have so many things to do … I was saying it jokingly, to lighten things. But I really thought so.”
The 62-year-old Gasperini said he was never swabbed as he had not suffered from a fever, but 10 days ago serological tests confirmed he had Covid-19.
“I have antibodies, which does not mean that I am now immune,” he added.
Gasperini said that four days after the Valencia game he felt the worst was over, after a workout like he hadn’t had in years and running 10km on the threadmill, but he then lost his sense of taste.
A celebratory meal and vintage 2008 Dom Perignon sent by a Michelin-starred chef and Atalanta fan, tasted like “water and bread”, Gasperini said.
“I stayed at the Zingonia training ground for three weeks,” he continued. “When I did get back to my home in Turin, I always respected social distancing with my wife and children.”
Bergamo, in the northern Lombardy region, was one of the epicentres of the coronavirus pandemic, with many experts believing Atalanta’s Champions League game at San Siro on 19 February to be one of the key causes.
More than 40,000 fans travelled the 60km to Milan, joining in celebrations for a historic 4-1 result, in the club’s first elite European campaign.
“Every time I think about it, it seems absurd to me: the historic peak of sporting happiness coincided with the greatest pain in the city,” said Gasperini.
“It will take years to truly understand what happened, because right here was the centre of evil.”
Serie A will return to action after a three-month absence on 20 June, and the former Inter Milan and Genoa coach backs the decision.
We had every interest to keep the table as it was and play only the Champions League,” said Gasperini, whose side are fourth, 15 points behind leaders Juventus. But from the lads to the club we just felt like playing.”
“Some consider it amoral to start again” he continued.
“I saw people singing on the balconies of Italy while Bergamo loaded their coffins onto trucks. I didn’t consider it ‘amoral’.
“I considered it an instinctive reaction, an attempt to cling to life, to react. Atalanta can help Bergamo to start again …the people of Bergamo are embers under the ashes.
“None of the players left the city. More than one has lost weight, which can also be a sign of psychological distress.
“Atalanta can help Bergamo to restart, respecting the pain and mourning. The team has remained connected with Bergamo’s suffering and will bring it to the pitch.”
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