Atalanta players reproducing the club’s shape at Euro 2020 | national

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LONDON (AP) – Atalanta have outperformed in Italy, and Atalanta players have outperformed the European Championship.

The club from the small northern Italian town of Bergamo have been turned into a attacking force by coach Gian Piero Gasperini and his players are working just as hard for their national teams at Euro 2020.

“You have to thank Mr Gasperini,” said German defender Robin Gosens, who scored a goal against defending champions Portugal in the group stage. “He had a great influence on that and those qualities that seem to have fallen asleep a bit in me have tickled me with the playing system in Bergamo.

“I’ve been there for four years now and have internalized the system. I am someone who likes to participate in the attacking game and I also have the drive and the time to score.

Gosens is not the only one. Matteo Pessina scored two goals for Italy, as did Joakim Mæhle for Denmark. These two players qualified for the quarter-finals.

Other Atalanta players to have scored at Euro 2020 so far are Croatian midfielder Mario PaÅ¡alić and Russian striker Aleksei Miranchuk. And PaÅ¡alić’s goal was one of the most important.

He scored an equalizer against Spain on Monday to send the game into overtime at 3-3. The Spaniards, however, took the 5-3 victory and reached the quarter-finals while Croatia were knocked out.

Atalanta’s five scorers at Euro 2020 make it the club with the most different players to find the net during the tournament. They also tied the record for most in tournament history alongside Anderlecht in 1984, Barcelona in 2000 and Real Madrid in 2012.

Not bad for a club that has traveled back and forth between the top two divisions but will soon be playing its third consecutive season in the Champions League.

Italian defender Rafael Tolói and Dutch midfielder Marten de Roon are the only Atalanta players not to have scored at Euro 2020. So far, anyway. Tolói could get another quarter-final chance against Belgium on Friday in Munich.

There could be a downside for Atalanta, however, with someone like Gosens making himself so well known to all of Europe’s big clubs after thriving as a left-back or winger and scoring 11 Serie A goals in the past. last season.

“Atalanta’s sporting director has already written to me and expressed his congratulations to me,” said Gosens, 26, after being named UEFA‘s man of the match against Portugal. “I think they are just happy for me now and proud to have played a good game at a European Championship.

“There are certainly times when you find yourself on the screen of other teams thanks to such a feat, but we will take a look at it after the Euro.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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