Four-goal Ilicic guides Atalanta into Champions League quarters
Atalanta's fairytale Champions League work continued in a empty stadium on Tuesday due to Josip Ilicic scored four situations in a 4-3 win over Valencia that sent his workforce in to the quarter-finals 8-4 on aggregate.
A frantic contest inside an echoing Mestalla stadium was the to begin several in the competition to be played nowadays because of the coronavirus, with 55,000 vacant seats creating a surreal ambiance that was never likely to deliver a momentous Valencia comeback.
They had been tasked with overturning a 4-1 defeat from the opening video game in Italy and any hopes were all-but dashed inside 90 seconds when Mouctar Diakhaby conceded the to begin two penalties, each converted by Ilicic.
Among, Kevin Gameiro had levelled for Valencia and scored again soon after half-period before Ferran Torres lobbed directly into keep the hosts needing three in only over 20 minutes.
Yet any chance of a revival was quickly snuffed away just as Ilicic completed his hat-trick and added a fourth to make sure Atalanta ended a strange evening with their titles in the draw on March 20.
The Slovenia international also became the first player to rating four times away from home in a Champions League knockout match.
Atalanta's progress remains to be the greatest surprise of this year's tournament, in which they lost all three of their beginning group games and so are featuring for the first time in the club's 113-year history.
"After a difficult start to this competition, we got the hang of it," said mentor Gian Piero Gasperini afterwards.
Even more the shame in that case that their advance on the trunk of two brilliant victories above Valencia was overshadowed by the sight of a Champions Group knock-out tie being played with only a handful of stadium staff in the stands.
- Strange atmosphere -
The shouts of the players were audible throughout within the primary half Valencia seemingly projected crowd noise through a audio system, although it was later switched off when hopes of a comeback had disappeared.
Valencia's supporters had gathered beyond your stadium before kick-off to welcome the crew bus but none were allowed inside. Atalanta are based in Bergamo in northern Italy, among the worst-hit regions in a country which has had 631 people killed by the virus up to now.
After the last whistle, the players organized a shirt to a television set camera that had the message, "Bergamo, that is for you!" written across the front.
"We are very pleased with how exactly we have represented an area that suffers so many," said Gasperini.
Spain announced on Mon that all schools in the Madrid area might close on Wednesday even while La Liga had confirmed earlier on Tuesday that all matches in the top two divisions will come to be played nowadays for 14 days at least.
The sense of deflation at not having any fans readily available was impossible to ignore because before even two minutes were up, Valencia were behind.
Diakhaby slid directly into block Ilicic's dummy-shot and scythed down the striker as he turned backside. Ilicic drove the penalty down the center for his 18th goal of the growing season.
Valencia equalised after Atalanta conceded possession cheaply in midfield and Rodrigo slid found in Gameiro to complete, but Ilicic converted a second penalty before half-period, after Diakhaby feathered the ball along with his hand.
Gameiro made it 2-2 by heading found in Torres' cross and then Torres found the web himself, lifting the ball above Marco Sportiello to provide Valencia some desire with 23 minutes still left.
But four minutes later, Ilicic completed his treble with a driven shot in to the part and with improvement secured, he grabbed the win also when the ball spilled out to him at the trunk post and he guided it into the top corner.
