According to the doctors in Italy, the Champions League match between Atalanta and Valencia might be the trigger for the COVID-19 epidemic in that country.
Doctor Fabiano di Marco, of the hospital in the City of Bergamo where Coronavirus hit the hardest, believes that the 1st leg of the UCL’s round of 16 was the main reason why this vicious disease spread this fast.
“I’ve heard a lot of theories, but I will tell you what I think. It was February 19, and 40,000 residents of Bergamo was at San Siro in Atalanta’s match against Valencia. They were heading there by train, by car, bus… It was a biological bomb, unfortunately,” he stated two days ago.
After his statement, many were suggesting that such an assumption was reasonable, yet nobody could guarantee it really was the cause of the problem.
Days later, Bergamo’s mayor Giorgio Gori admitted such claim saying that all 40,000 spectators were likely infected with the virus and that nobody knew that. The game took place four days before the first COVID-19 patient was registered in Italy. Apparently, at that moment, the epidemic expanded all over the country.
“We didn’t know what is going on. The Virus was already among us, and we didn’t have the idea that 40,000 people from San Siro were already infected. The virus was spreading from person to person. People were coming in groups, and there was a lot of physical contacts,” said Gori.
Bergamo, who is next to Milano, and in the heart of the region Lombardia, was the epicentre of the epidemic in Italy. According to doctors and experts, it is the most endangered area on the planet. So far, more than 75,000 people are officially infected with the virus, and more than 7,500 died, and the vast majority of these numbers comes from this part of the country.
Atalanta played its Champions League matches at San Siro in Milan. The one against Valencia was very important for La Dea, as the fans call the club, and maybe the biggest in the recent few years. It is why it generated such high attention. It is estimated that more than 45,000 fans from Bergamo attended the match.
Shortly after this happened, one of the media members from Valencia tested positive on the virus once returning to Spain. In the meantime, more than one-third of Valencia’s players and employees have been positive on COVID-19. It is why many believe that in fact, this game might have a more significant impact on the virus spread in Europe.
The Italian club eventually eliminated the Bats with the aggregate result 8-4, defeating them at San Siro with 4-1, and then again at Mestalla, 3-4.
Josip Ilicic was remarkable in the second leg, scoring four goals, becoming the oldest player who scored a hat-trick on away Champions League match. He also became the oldest player to score four times at one UCL contest in general. Unfortunately, it seems that this matchup will be remembered by something else than sports, and his fantastic achievements.
