Atalanta‘s first foray in the Champions League lives on as the Italian debutants progressed to the quarterfinal stage, winning 8-4 on aggregate after Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over Valencia.
Josip Ilicic was the hero for Atalanta, scoring a brace in both halves to register the first four-goal performance of this season’s competition.
Los Che center-back Mouctar Diakhaby had a nightmare of a first-half for the hosts. First, the Frenchman was at fault for Ilicic’s third-minute opener from the spot. Later, Diakhaby was again flagged for a penalty, this time a handball minutes before the break, that the Slovenian striker again easily slotted home.
Eerie sounds greeted Kevin Gameiro’s strike for Valencia in the 18th minute after the fixture was forced behind closed doors amid coronavirus fears. Celebratory sounds were played on the PA at an empty Mestalla Stadium as the hosts clawed their way back.
Gameiro made it 2-2 shortly after the interval when he headed Ferran Torres’ measured cross beyond helpless Atalanta ‘keeper Marco Sportiello.
Only four players have scored four goals in a single UCL knock-out game:
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi (twice)
🇩🇪 Mario Gomez
🇵🇱 Robert Lewandowski
🇸🇮 Josip Iličić 🆕The first ever player to do it away from home. pic.twitter.com/Hdq7hoZ6YT