Atalanta also won the second leg of the clash against Olympiacos: the goal has been achieved, as the Nerazzurri have qualified for the Last 16. The satisfaction of CEO Luca Percassi can only be great: “It’s exciting to play in European competitions”.

Luca Percassi, Atalanta CEO, this was a great, a clear victory, as Atalanta still want to play in Europa League.

“Yes, it’s another historic evening for our club, for Atalanta and we’re obviously delighted. It’s an achievement. Playing in European competitions is always exciting, it helps us gain great experience and we come out even stronger this evening.”

Atalanta want to stay in the top spots of the Serie A table, and in Europe as well, that’s why the Percassi family made a choice. It’s from last week the announcement that new partners have joined Atalanta to further strengthen this team.

“Yes, exactly. Throughout these years, we have reached extraordinary goals in all respects, thanks to the compactness of all our group and our fans. This opportunity arose, it seemed right to seize it. Obviously, our goal and hope are to make this club stronger by maintaining the characteristics of our club and Atalanta’s DNA. We’ll try to strengthen it. We’ll focus on the Youth Academy, as we’ve already done in the past, but we’ll put even more effort into it and we’ll try to make the First Team even more competitive. However, we’ll stay true to ourselves, as we know nobody is giving us anything. We have to work hard for it day after day. These opportunities are very welcome.”

Atalanta become even more international but do not forget where they come from, their roots.

“Exactly. During these European experiences, we have realized how global football is. Yet, everybody is talking about Atalanta, because of their environment, background and unity with their fans. We have to find our fans again. Luckily, we’ll have a 75% capacity in stadiums again, hopefully, 100% soon. So, it’ll be the Atalanta side we’ve known over these years.”