Ventola: “Atalanta also suffered eleven against eleven”

“At Atalanta it was where I had my best numbers.” Nicola Ventola (42 years old) remembers with a big smile his years in Bergamo, a city that lived through two different phases of his career, in the 2000-01 season and from 2005 to 2007. The former striker, who in his football journey also wore, among others, the shirt of Bari, Inter (he played alongside Ronaldo), Bologna and Torino, analyzes tonight's clash for AS, in which he will obviously cheer on the Dea: “I have very nice memories there. A goal I scored against Juve on the horn, another against Milan, with a left foot from outside the area with Dida in goal … It is a special club.”

If the nerazzurri reached this level, according to him (he signed 35 goals in 101 games with Atalanta), it was above all thanks to Gasperini: “There is a before and after him. And the Percassi gathered the strength of their quarry by knowing how to find talents abroad perfect for the game of Gasp. They knew how to buy and sell very well. “

Ventola is being one of the protagonists of 'Bobo TV', the Twitch channel where he discusses football news with Vieri, Cassano and Adani, and that often goes viral on social media. His Sanhedrin had no doubts about the controversial expulsion of Freuler (“it was not red, we were all clear about it”), but the Italian wanted to underline a detail: “During the first 18 minutes, Atalanta suffered in a way that it was not used to. Playing eleven against eleven generates curiosity, of course, but Madrid is always Madrid: anything can happen“.

Muriel, who “looks incredible”, and Ilicic, “who if he has his night dominates the game”, are the greatest dangers for the whites, whose DNA always worries in Italy: “There are teams whose strength in Europe dispenses with their moments. In key matches, Madrid is always. And to Milan, against United, something similar happened “.

The respect that meringues impose is the same, with or without Cristiano. That, by the way, Ventola would not bring back the Bernabéu: “Madrid, like Juve, is going through a phase of changes, with a younger project, I don't know if it would make sense. La Vecchia Signora It is also in a difficult time, although the numbers for CR7 cannot be argued. In Calcium he is also making a difference “.

The former Atalanta player has great expectations for today: “I think a nice match awaits us, with many goals. Madrid continues to be favorites for its players and for the result of the first leg. I'd say you have 80% going for you“That does not extinguish his hope:” Atalanta still has its options. And hopefully I get the pass. “