UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg Atalanta Bergamo - Valencia CF 2020

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Atalanta Bergamo
Valencia CF

The UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg Atalanta Bergamo - Valencia CF 2020 , also known as Partita zero ( Italian ), Game Zero ( English ), game zero or game zero , was a football match within the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League , which took place on February 19, 2020 at the Stadio San Siro in Milan . Atalanta Bergamo won the game against Valencia 4-1.

In the days following the game, Bergamo province became a hotspot for the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy . Due to the presumed importance of the game with regard to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and Spain , the encounter generated international media coverage .

background

Atalanta Bergamo qualified for the Champions League for the first time by reaching third place in Serie A 2018/19 , while Valencia CF made it to the Champions League for the second time in a row by finishing fourth in the Primera División 2018/19 .

Since the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo has been under construction since April 2019, Atalanta Bergamo played its home games at the Stadio San Siro in Milan .

The way to the second round

Note: The results are given from the point of view of the round of 16.

ItalyItaly Atalanta Bergamo round SpainSpain Valencia CF
opponent Result Group stage opponent Result
CroatiaCroatia Dinamo Zagreb 0: 4 ( A ) 1st matchday EnglandEngland Chelsea FC 1: 0 (A)
UkraineUkraine Shakhtar Donetsk 1: 2 ( H ) 2nd matchday NetherlandsNetherlands Ajax Amsterdam 0: 3 (H)
EnglandEngland Manchester City 1: 5 (A) 3rd matchday FranceFrance Lille OSC 1: 1 (A)
EnglandEngland Manchester City 1: 1 (H) 4th matchday FranceFrance Lille OSC 4: 1 (H)
CroatiaCroatia Dinamo Zagreb 2: 0 (H) 5th matchday EnglandEngland Chelsea FC 2: 2 (H)
UkraineUkraine Shakhtar Donetsk 3: 0 (A) 6th matchday NetherlandsNetherlands Ajax Amsterdam 1: 0 (A)
Second in group C Final score First of group H
Pl. society Sp. S. U N Gates Diff. Points
 1. EnglandEngland Manchester City  6th  4th  2  0 016: 400 +12 14th
 2. ItalyItaly Atalanta Bergamo  6th  2  1  3 008:120  −4 07th
 3. UkraineUkraine Shakhtar Donetsk  6th  1  3  2 008:130  −5 06th
 4th CroatiaCroatia Dinamo Zagreb  6th  1  2  3 010:130  −3 05
table
Pl. society Sp. S. U N Gates Diff. Points
 1. SpainSpain Valencia CF  6th  3  2  1 009: 700  +2 11
 2. EnglandEngland Chelsea FC  6th  3  2  1 011: 900  +2 11
 3. NetherlandsNetherlands Ajax Amsterdam  6th  3  1  2 012: 600  +6 10
 4th FranceFrance Lille OSC  6th  0  1  5 004:140 −10 01

Game dates

Atalanta Bergamo Valencia CF
Atalanta Bergamo
February 19, 2020 in Milan ( Stadio San Siro )
Result: 4: 1 (2: 0)
Spectators: 44,236
Referee: Michael Oliver ( England ) EnglandEngland 
Match report
Valencia CF


Pierluigi Gollini - Mattia Caldara (75th Duván Zapata ), José Luis Palomino , Rafael Tolói - Robin Gosens , Remo Freuler , Marten de Roon , Hans Hateboer - Alejandro Gómez (81st Ruslan Malinowskyj ), Mario Pašalić (90th + 2 ' Adrien Tameze ), Josip Iličić Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini(C)Captain of the crew
 Jaume Doménech - José Luis Gayà , Mouctar Diakhaby , Eliaquim Mangala , Daniel Wass - Carlos Soler , Geoffrey Kondogbia , Dani Parejo , Ferrán Torres - Maximiliano Gómez (73rd Kevin Gameiro ), Gonçalo Guedes (65th Denis Tscheryschew ) Coach: Albert Celades(C)Captain of the crew
goal1: 0 Hateboer (16.)
goal2: 0 Iličić (42.)
goal3: 0 Freuler (57.)
goal4: 0 Hateboer (62.)



goal 4: 1 Cheryshev (66th)
yellow cards Hateboer (79.)

aftermath

Sporting aftermath

With the 4-1 win, Atalanta Bergamo created a good starting position for the second leg. In the return encounter, which took place on March 10, 2020 in Valencia due to the COVID-19 pandemic without spectators, the Italians prevailed again, this time 4-3 , and thus qualified for the quarter-finals against Paris Saint-Germain in the frame of the final tournament on August 12th in Lisbon , which Atalanta Bergamo lost 2-1.

Impact on the COVID-19 pandemic

Development of the number of cases

By mid-February 2020, there had been only individual cases of registered COVID-19 cases in both Italy and Spain , although it is suspected that there could have been numerous undetected cases in Italy as early as January.

Of the more than 44,000 spectators for the game on February 19, 2020 in Milan , around 2,500 fans had come from Valencia , the remaining spectators, including many older Atalanta supporters, came mainly from the province of Bergamo . In Bergamo, numerous residents had followed the game in crowded bars and around 46,000 fans had traveled to Milan.

The first COVID-19 case in Valencia occurred on February 13th, and one day after the game, a patient in Milan tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time. After the game, the province of Bergamo developed into a hotspot for the coronavirus pandemic in Italy, with 117 cases there already a week after the game, over 800 after two weeks and finally more than 7,000 infected and 1,000 dead. For the Bergamo region of Lombardy , a state of emergency was declared on March 7 and extensive restrictions on freedom of movement were decided.

In Milan, on the other hand, despite numerous overnight stays and celebrations by football fans, there was no sudden increase in the number of illnesses.

While at Atalanta only marco sportiello was infected, when were FC Valencia in March, according to association information 35 percent of the employees and at least five players to COVID-19 ill, as a present at the game in Milan Spanish journalist. It later became known that Bergamo's coach Gian Piero Gasperini was also ill with COVID-19 and had participated in the game despite symptoms.

Evaluation of the role of the game

Some Italian media claimed that Spanish fans brought the disease to Italy, but this has not been proven.

On the other hand, according to the Italian civil defense, among other things, the fact that the number of cases had not increased significantly in Milan spoke against the thesis that the game was decisive for the spread of the disease. Nevertheless, the civil defense does not rule out that the game contributed to the spread.

The Istituto Superiore di Sanità , the national health authority in Rome , also stated that there were no figures "that suggest an increase in infections in the province of Bergamo can be attributed to this football match."

According to immunologist Francesco Le Foche from Rome, although the game contributed to the spread of the virus, there were several other factors that favored the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the province of Bergamo. The province is characterized by “great economic activities and strong social exchange”. There is also a lot of work there and it is common not to take “illnesses so seriously”.

Even before the increase in the number of cases in Bergamo, there had been numerous COVID-19 diseases in the nearby province of Lodi . 14 days before the rest of Lombardy, severe restrictions came into force in Lodi. The fact that countermeasures were only taken late in Bergamo despite an exponential increase in the number of cases could have contributed to the high speed of spread in Bergamo.

In the opinion of the Mayor of Bergamo, the game was "an opportunity for strong contagions", but he sees the cause of the outbreak in northern Italy in a hospital in Alzano Lombardo, where COVID-19 disease was not recognized as such.

Based on the term patient zero , the game is referred to as "game zero".

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Coronavirus, l'immunologo: Atalanta-Valencia partita zero. In: corrieredellosport.it. Corriere dello Sport - Stadio , March 19, 2020, accessed August 6, 2020 (Italian).
  2. ↑ Nicholas Mendola: Atalanta-Valencia match labeled 'Game Zero' by some medical experts. In: soccer.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports , March 26, 2020, accessed August 15, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Game Zero: Spread of coronavirus in Europe linked to Champions League soccer match. In: tampabay.com. Tampa Bay Times , March 29, 2020, accessed August 15, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Bergamo: Soccer game zero and clinic zero? In: suedtirolnews.it. March 22, 2020, accessed August 6, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Champions League game to blame for Corona crisis in Italy? In: sueddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung , March 26, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Tom Mustroph: The story of the game zero. In: zeit.de. Die Zeit , March 24, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  7. ↑ a b c Corona and the theory of “game zero”. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 23, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h Tom Mustroph: Bergamo - Valencia: The "zero game" of the corona epidemic? In: sportschau.de. Sportschau , March 24, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b Rouven Chlebna: "Game Zero" of the Corona crisis. In: welt.de. Die Welt , March 26, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Christian Hackl: "Spiel null": CL game in Italy was possibly a catalyst. In: derstandard.de. Der Standard , March 24, 2020, accessed August 6, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b c d e Sebastian Fischer: Game one after game zero. In: sueddeutsche.de. Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 19, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Sigi Lützow: Atalanta Bergamo: The goddess as she laughs and weeps. In: derstandard.at. Der Standard , August 12, 2020, accessed August 15, 2020 .
  13. ↑ a b Champions League 2019/2020 - Round of 16 - Wed., February 19, 2020 - 9:00 p.m .: Atalanta Bergamo - FC Valencia. In: fussballdaten.de. Retrieved August 6, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Champions League 2019/2020 - round of 16 - Tuesday, March 10, 2020 - 9:00 p.m .: Valencia CF - Atalanta Bergamo. In: fussballdaten.de. Retrieved August 6, 2020 .
  15. ↑ PSG after a crazy final phase against Bergamo in the semi-finals. In: sportschau.de. Sports show , August 12, 2020, accessed on August 13, 2020 .
  16. ↑ a b c d e Matthias Rüb, Christiane Heil, Stephan Löwenstein: Worldwide corona crisis: Why these countries became hotspots. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 28, 2020, accessed on August 6, 2020 .