Valencia ‘surprised’ at Atalanta coach’s virus revelation
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When Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was struggling with the coronavirus in mid-march, the prospect of entering Bergamo’s hospital — which was overflowing with COVID-19 patients at the time — made him fear for his life.
“Every two minutes an ambulance passed by. … It seemed like a war,” Gasperini said. “At night, I would think, ‘If go in there (the hospital), what will happen to me?’”
Fortunately for Gasperini, he quickly recovered and did not have to check into the Pope John XXIII hospital. The coach only recently confirmed that he had the virus when the entire team was tested 10 days ago, he said in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport published on Sunday.
The 62-year-old Gasperini started feeling sick on March 9, a day before Atalanta played at Valencia in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.
He said that when he returned to Bergamo, which was quickly becoming the epicenter of the pandemic, “I didn’t have a fever but I felt destroyed and as if I had a 40-degree (Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit) fever.”
Many experts have pointed to the first-leg game between Atalanta and Valencia on Feb. 19 in Milan as one of the biggest reasons why the virus was so deadly in Bergamo. The match has been dubbed “Game Zero” by the local media.
With the virus advancing rapidly across Europe, the second leg in Valencia was played without fans. Still, more than 35% of Valencia’s team became infected.
Valencia released a statement later Sunday to express its “surprise” with the comments made by Gasperini and the fact that no “preventive measures” were taken.
“Such actions, if this was the case, would have put at risk numerous people during the trip,” the Spanish club said.