Slovenian Josip Ilicic led Atalanta to the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday with a strong poker to decide 4-3 at Valencia in Mestalla and already scored 14 goals in this 2020, which makes him the top scorer so far this year in the five major European leagues ahead of the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and the Norwegian Erling Braut Haaland.
Ilicic, 32 years old and in his first absolute campaign in the Champions League, had failed to score any goals in the group stage, but he raised his voice in this phase of direct elimination, in which he sank Valencia with a goal in the first leg, played in San Siro, and with a strong poker this Tuesday in Mestalla.
The Slovenian midfielder, who at the beginning of his career stood out for his enormous talent but lacked continuity, he is living the best moment of his sporting life and was decisive for the great 4-3 victory achieved in the field of Valencia, after 4-1 of the first leg of San Siro.
Atalanta's number 27 started 2020 bluntly and already has 14 goals, one more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus Turin forward, and two more than the Norwegian Erling Braut Haaland, who at 19 is breaking records with the German Borussia Dortmund.
The records of Ciro Immobile, which marked 11 goals in 2020 with Lazio (27 totals in Serie A) and those of Argentine Lionel Messi, who signed 9 with Barcelona, and the Polish Robert Lewandowski, who also put in 9 with Bayern.
He only needed ten games to sign these 14 goals and reached 21 total goals in this outstanding season: he entered 15 in Serie A, being the top gunner of Atalanta, and one in the Italian Cup in addition to the five in the European Cup.
With his poker at Mestalla he became the first player capable of scoring four goals away from home in the phase of direct elimination of the Champions League and joined the restricted group of players who scored 4 goals in Europe.
Already part of a group that includes the Hungarian legend of Real Madrid Ferenc Puskas, author of a poker in the final of the 1960 European Cup won against Frankfurt, the Argentine Alfredo Di Stéfano, Messi, the Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic or the Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko
Dreams Ilicic and dreams of Atalanta, which this year disputes the first Champions League in its history and has already put its name among the eight best clubs in the continent, wanting to continue surprising for quality of play, organization and results.
Ilicic: “Atalanta is no longer a surprise”
Slovenian Josip Ilicic, who signed a poker this Tuesday to Valencia in Mestalla (4-3) to send Atalanta to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, considered his team “already it's no surprise “and promised” to compete until the end “, whoever the next rival. “The Atalanta is no longer a surprise, we have been doing great things, our goal is to show that we deserve to be where we are. We do not want to stop, we want to continue growing”, Ilicic said at the end of Mestalla's game, in statements to 'Sky Sport'.
“The important thing is to have fun, it is not easy to reach these levels. It is a long road that we are doing in recent years, “he added. Asked about which rival he wants in the quarterfinals, Ilicic said his team has no favorites and stressed that “the goal is compete, nothing more. “
And downplayed poker signed on Tuesday, as its only goal is to get as far as possible in this competition. “The most important thing is the team. A player without a team is not going to any side. Hopefully next time the 'Papu' wins (the Argentine Alejandro Gomez), “he said.