Down Goes the Underdog
We still have 2 more Champions League quarterfinal matches to go, but we already have a matchup that showed us why we both love and hate sports at the same time. When the draw resulted in PSG facing Atalanta, the consensus was that the French squad would advance. While they did, it was in an unexpected manner, but to be fair Atalanta being in this stage was also unexpected.
People love the underdog in sports. Upsets are greatly celebrated and remembered due to the fact the result was so unexpected. Enter Atalanta. To understand their story, we need to look at their competition record domestically and internationally. This is a team that has never won their domestic league, Serie A, and last won their domestic cup, Coppa Italia, in 1963. Their trophy case is pretty empty to say the least. The last time they competed in a European continental competition was in the 1990–91 UEFA Europa League, then known as the UEFA Cup.
This was a team that usually finished either mid table or lower and was no stranger to relegation. Until 2017, their best finish in Serie A was a fifth place spot in the table in 1948. After gaining promotion back to the top circuit in 2011, the team was rather irrelevant until 2016. New coach Gian Piero Gasperini led the team to a surprising 4th place finish and a spot in the UEFA Europa League. Now, every once in a while, a European team will be a one hit wonder and have a successful season, only to falter in the next year. Until recently, Leicester City’s 2015–16 Premier League title seemed to fit the bill, but they’ve managed to turn things around. Atalanta finished the next season lower in the 7th spot, but that was still enough to earn a play-off spot into the UEFA Europa League.
Next season is when this team really took off. Atalanta finished 3rd in Serie A, earning a spot in the UEFA Champions League, while also reaching the Coppa Italia final. They ending up being drawn into a group with Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Manchester City emerged as the heavy favorite in this group, so the second spot was up for grabs. However, Atalanta lost their home field advantage as their home ground in Bergamo was undergoing renovations, so they had to travel to Milan for their home games. It was an ugly start, as they lost their first 3 games with two of those losses featuring 4-goal defeats. In their next game, they managed to draw with City, leaving them with 1 point with two games left. Only a miracle would send them through to the knockout round.
Whatever Gasperini told his squad before the remaining two games worked, because they won their remaining games with identical 3–0 score lines to advance to the next round. Next up was a matchup with Valencia in the round of 16 and they blew out the Spaniards with a 4–1 victory in the first leg in Italy. The return leg was played in front of an empty stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic beginning to rear its ugly head, and Atalanta moved on after putting up another 4 spot as they defeated Valencia 4–3. However, they would have to wait almost 5 months for their next match due to the pandemic shutting down competition.
They wouldn’t find out who their next opponent was until July 10th, when the draw determined they would face off against heavyweight PSG. Now, there can’t be an underdog unless they’re facing off against a team who’s heavily favored. While Atalanta has an empty trophy case, PSG has a full one due to dominating their domestic league, Ligue 1, winning every title since 2013, and winning their domestic cup, Coupe de France, every year except for one since 2015. All the domestic success hasn’t led to continental success, as their last title in European club competition was winning the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup. When the last international trophy you won was in a tournament that no longer exists, it’s been a while. This is despite the fact PSG has routinely spent big and brought in high profile names to achieve European success. They’re best remembered for blowing legs they were in control of, like when they lost to Barcelona in 2017 and Manchester United last year.
So, here we were. Surprising Atalanta vs PSG with the big names. Atalanta’s recent success led you to believe they wouldn’t go down easy, but without a doubt PSG was going to win this matchup. Now, Neymar and PSG wasted some good chances early on, but Atalanta was the first to make noise as Mario Pašalić gave the Italians the lead in the 27th minute. The score line stayed the same until halftime, so it was expected PSG would push forward, while Atalanta would employ their best Catenaccio efforts to hold on. As expected, PSG created more chances but was unable to even the score. Could this really happen? Could Atalanta actually knock out mighty PSG despite their limitations? How limited exactly? Well, Neymar alone makes more money than all of Atalanta’s squad combined. In baseball terms, imagine the Tampa Bay Rays payroll vs that of the New York Yankees.
It was almost stoppage time and it looked like PSG would once again have a disappointing early end to their UEFA Champions League aspirations. Suddenly, Neymar received a cross in the box, and found teammate Marquinhos alone to tie the score. PSG now had all the momentum, as we were surely going to extra time with only a few minutes left to go. Yet, only 2 minutes later Neymar passed to Kylian Mbappé, who then found Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in almost a similar manner as the first goal to give PSG a late lead. Atalanta had a spot in the quarterfinals, but in a matter of minutes, PSG snatched it away in heartbreaking fashion.
PSG advanced to their first Champions League semifinal since 1995, and will now face Red Bull Leipzig after their last-minute win vs Atletico Madrid (How about Tyler Adams?!). Atalanta goes home, but does so with their heads held high. While they weren’t exactly playing for pride or respect, they definitely achieved it, as no one expected them to be in this position and they were so close to competing for a chance in the final. The best part for them? We haven’t seen the last of them in the Champions League, as they qualified for the next tournament due to 3rd place finish in Serie A this past season. If they advance far like the did this year, it’ll no longer be a surprise like it was this time around.
