Gabriele Ragnini
November 26, 2024 (change at 11.20pm) – MILANO
They hoped to bring back Gasperini and his men blinded by the yellow wall of the Bern curve. And instead it will be that blonde trail left by Retegui and De Ketelaere that will remain in the eyes of the Young Boys fans. At the Wankdorf stadium Atalanta lights up the Champions League night with 6 goals, dazzles their Swiss opponents and rises to fourth place in the standings.
pair of axes
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How this Goddess shines. Of their own light, yes, but above all of those flashes of the pair launched in the 1st minute by Gasperini, who in Switzerland decided to leave Lookman rested. There was nostalgia between De Ketelaere and Retegui, eager to meet again under the European stars. The last (and only) time together in the Champions League they were left without a goal, in their season opener against Arsenal (0-0). Between a velvet left foot and a cynical right foot they tried and left four goals. The only exceptions: Kolasinac’s goal, on which the acronym CDK appears in the form of an assist, and Samardzic’s final seal.
Atalanta’s push
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Gasperini expected an “aggressive and lively” Young Boys. Waiting for them at the gate, where ready to respond were an eager Cuadrado (in his first start since last December 12, Inter-Real Sociedad in the Champions League) and the running of Brescianini, making his debut in Europe. Instead it was enough to leave the ball between De Ketelaere’s feet to find the first opening. Nine minutes and the attack immediately starts: the Belgian passes the ball between the lines to Retegui, who crosses coldly only in front of the goal. About 120 seconds pass and the switch trips for a few moments. A blackout from a corner: Ganvoula heads it into the area, jumping right at Retegui and Carnesecchi is unable to block his header. Not bad, Atalanta starts to shine again thanks to the light of his talent with the number seventeen. He also responds from a corner, where in the 29th minute he hooks Kossonou’s heel and finds himself hitting two touches in the handkerchief of the penalty area. In three minutes Joel Magnin, coach of the Boys, forgets the lesson of the first goal and tries to raise the yellow and black defensive wall. De Ketelaere finds the crack again and passes the ball through it with a very fine left-footed shot, which ends up at Kolasinac’s feet and then into the net again. CDK’s energy is inexhaustible: shortly after from the left he misses Retegui and finds him, as always, in the middle of the penalty area, ready to take advantage of yet another yellow and black defensive error and the flashes that have blinded Von all evening Ballmoos. Fourth assist in five games for the former Milan player, who has thus risen to the top of the rankings of visionaries of this Champions League together with Salah.
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de ketelaere, not only king of assists
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In the second half Atalanta decides to put the batteries in charge for the next match against Roma. He remains in control for most of the match, takes advantage of the substitutions (Samardzic and Zaniolo first, Palestra, Toloi and Godfrey then) and leaves some timid attempts to Young Boys. With the sole exception of those who wanted to match Retegui in terms of goals. In the 56th minute De Ketelaere becomes almost radioactive from the right, no one approaches him, he looks for an opening to the goal and finds it thanks to a decisive deflection from Camara. Then, more dribbling and administration until the 91st minute, when Samardzic tries to imitate his Belgian teammate and does everything on his own to put in the left foot that leads the Dea to be the third attack in the Champions League after Barcelona and Dortmund.
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