Paris Saint Germain, who has not reached the semifinals since 1995, and Atalanta, an absolute revelation in their first participation, will meet this Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, in a match that represents the occasion of a lifetime for both clubs.
Match Schedule:
Atalanta vs PSG
Champions League
Date: 12 August 2020;
Time: 9.00 PM
Venue: La Luz stadium
in Lisbon
The La Luz stadium in
Lisbon will host a clash of styles, between the tremendous economic muscle
of PSG, great in France and still seeking to be crowned in Europe, and an
Atalanta that, based on organization and talent recruitment, has made a gap
between the largest on the continent.
Two teams with opposite philosophies meet in Lisbon, with a PSG in which the Brazilian Neymar Junior, with his record of more
than 30 million euros net per season, wins like all of Atalanta, in which the highest-paid
players are the Colombians Luis Muriel and Duván Zapata and the Argentine
Alejandro Gómez, with 1.8 million per year.
The Parisian team comes to this duel with the best defense of
the tournament (only 4 goals conceded) and after coming back in the round of 16
against Borussia Dortmund, by winning 2-0 in a Parc des Princes behind closed
doors after the German team won 2-1 the first leg, open door, at Signal Iduna
Park.
Coach Thomas Tuchel must manage an emergency, as the
Argentine Ángel Di María, sanctioned, will not be there, and the French Kylian
Mbappé is in doubt after the strong blow to an ankle suffered in the final of
the French Cup won against him, Saint Etienne.
The world champion striker missed days after the final of the
League Cup (the second French national cup) and will give everything to recover
and could sit on the bench, but it will be difficult to leave from the
beginning.
At Atalanta, Coach
Gianpiero Gasperini lost his starting goalkeeper, Pierluigi Gollini, through
injury, and he will not be able to count on the Slovenian Josip Ilicic, a
midfielder who overwhelmed Valencia in the round of 16 with five goals in two
games. The player suffers from private personal problems and is not ready to
compete.
But the strength of Atalanta is the team and the
organization. Gasperini put together a squad that practices total football, in
which all his players attack and defend, and in which Duván, author of 18 goals
in Serie A, is the offensive terminal.
Atalanta has only met twice with a French
team. It was Lyon a double confrontation in the group stage of the Europa
League 2017-2018, ending with an Italian victory at home and a draw in France.
For its part, PSG has played twenty times against Italian
teams, adding two wins, nine draws and nine losses. The Parisian team has not
reached the semi-finals of the Champions
League since 1995 and had not reached the quarter-finals since 2016.