Atalanta 4-1 Valencia: Hans Hateboer scores twice as Serie A side thump Spanish club

Atalanta's fairytale Champions League debut campaign looks set to continue into the quarter-finals after they thumped Valencia to take a commanding lead into the second leg of the last-16 tie.

Hans Hateboer, with two, Josip Ilicic and a wonder-strike from Remo Freuler saw off the two-time finalists, who were shell-shocked by the pace of their opponents in attack and their incisiveness. There is surely no way back for Albert Celades' Spanish side.

It has already been a wonderful few months for Gian Piero Gasperini's side, who finished third in Serie A to earn their spot in the competition and then qualified for the knockout stages despite losing their opening three group games.

Their home Champions League matches have been played at Milan's San Siro because their Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, which is 55km away, does not meet Uefa requirements. But once again their devoted fans made the iconic stadium their own on Wednesday.

The reported 40,000 who travelled from Bergamo should have been celebrating an opener in the eighth minute when Mario Pasalic played a one-two with Josip Ilicic but then saw his shot pushed over the bar by keeper Jaume Domenech.

However, that last line of defence was beaten soon after when Dutchman Hateboer converted Papu Gomez's ball from close range. It was 2-0 just before the break courtesy of a fierce drive from Ilicic - the Slovenian has now scored 16 goals in all competitions this season.

Freuler then produced arguably the goal of the night with a stunning curling strike past the reach of Domenech, before the spritely Hateboer added a fourth when he galloped into the area from the right and drove a low shot into the far corner.

With a 4-0 advantage, Atalanta's concentration dipped. Jose Luis Palomino's backpass should have found a team-mate but was instead picked off by substitute Denis Cheryshev who struck a low shot to reduce the deficit.

The second leg is on Tuesday, 10 March.

Live: Reaction to Wednesday's Champions League action

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Atalanta

Formation 3-4-1-2

95Gollini
2Toloi
3CaldaraSubstituted forZapataat 75'minutes
6Palomino
33HateboerBooked at 79mins
15de Roon
11Freuler
8Gosens
88PasalicSubstituted forTamezeat 90+2'minutes
72Ilicic
10GómezSubstituted forMalinovskiyat 81'minutes

Substitutes

5Tameze
7Czyborra
9Muriel
18Malinovskiy
21Castagne
57Sportiello
91Zapata

Valencia

Formation 4-4-2

1Doménech
18Wass
12Diakhaby
4Mangala
14Gayà
20F Torres
10Parejo
6Kondogbia
8Soler
22GómezSubstituted forGameiroat 73'minutes
7Gonçalo GuedesSubstituted forCheryshevat 64'minutes

Substitutes

2Correia
3Costa
9Gameiro
11Cheryshev
13Cillessen
23Sobrino
37Molina Gutiérrez

Referee:: Michael Oliver
Attendance:: 44,236

Match Stats

Home TeamAtalantaAway TeamValencia

Possession: Home51%; Away49%

Shots: Home11; Away18

Shots on Target: Home5; Away4

Corners: Home6; Away4

Fouls: Home19; Away8

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Atalanta 4, Valencia 1.
90'+5'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Atalanta 4, Valencia 1.

90'+4'
Post update
Corner, Atalanta. Conceded by Daniel Wass.
90'+3'
Post update
Corner, Atalanta. Conceded by Jaume Doménech.
90'+2'
Substitution
Substitution, Atalanta. Adrien Tameze replaces Mario Pasalic.
90'+1'
Post update
Attempt missed. Ferran Torres (Valencia) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Daniel Wass with a cross.
87'
Post update
Duván Zapata (Atalanta) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
87'
Post update
Foul by Mouctar Diakhaby (Valencia).
87'
Post update
Offside, Valencia. Daniel Parejo tries a through ball, but José Gayà is caught offside.
86'
Post update
Foul by Duván Zapata (Atalanta).
86'
Post update
Daniel Wass (Valencia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
85'
Post update
Foul by Ruslan Malinovskiy (Atalanta).
85'
Post update
José Gayà (Valencia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
85'
Post update
Attempt missed. Geoffrey Kondogbia (Valencia) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Daniel Parejo with a cross following a set piece situation.
85'
Post update
Ferran Torres (Valencia) wins a free kick on the right wing.
85'
Post update
Foul by Marten de Roon (Atalanta).
84'
Post update
Attempt missed. Ruslan Malinovskiy (Atalanta) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Duván Zapata.
83'
Post update
Foul by Duván Zapata (Atalanta).
83'
Post update
Daniel Wass (Valencia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
81'
Substitution
Substitution, Atalanta. Ruslan Malinovskiy replaces Alejandro Gómez.

As It Stood

A

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	PSG	6	5	1	0	17	2	15	16
2	Real Madrid	6	3	2	1	14	8	6	11
3	Club Bruges	6	0	3	3	4	12	-8	3
4	Galatasaray	6	0	2	4	1	14	-13	2

B

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bayern Munich	6	6	0	0	24	5	19	18
2	Tottenham	6	3	1	2	18	14	4	10
3	Olympiakos	6	1	1	4	8	14	-6	4
4	Red Star Belgrade	6	1	0	5	3	20	-17	3

C

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Man City	6	4	2	0	16	4	12	14
2	Atalanta	6	2	1	3	8	12	-4	7
3	Shakhtar Donetsk	6	1	3	2	8	13	-5	6
4	Dinamo Zagreb	6	1	2	3	10	13	-3	5

D

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Juventus	6	5	1	0	12	4	8	16
2	Atl Madrid	6	3	1	2	8	5	3	10
3	B Leverkusen	6	2	0	4	5	9	-4	6
4	Lokomotiv Moscow	6	1	0	5	4	11	-7	3

E

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	6	4	1	1	13	8	5	13
2	Napoli	6	3	3	0	11	4	7	12
3	RB Salzburg	6	2	1	3	16	13	3	7
4	KRC Genk	6	0	1	5	5	20	-15	1

F

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Barcelona	6	4	2	0	9	4	5	14
2	B Dortmund	6	3	1	2	8	8	0	10
3	Inter Milan	6	2	1	3	10	9	1	7
4	Slavia Prague	6	0	2	4	4	10	-6	2

G

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	RB Leipzig	6	3	2	1	10	8	2	11
2	Lyon	6	2	2	2	9	8	1	8
3	Benfica	6	2	1	3	10	11	-1	7
4	Zenit St Petersburg	6	2	1	3	7	9	-2	7

H

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Valencia	6	3	2	1	9	7	2	11
2	Chelsea	6	3	2	1	11	9	2	11
3	Ajax	6	3	1	2	12	6	6	10
4	Lille	6	0	1	5	4	14	-10	1

.view-comments-button-wrapped-component {display: block !important;} .view-comments-button-wrapper {display: none !important;}

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

33 comments

Comment posted by Andrew, at 22:11 19 Feb 2020
Italian football has come a long way, remember when 1-0 was the standard; great to see - will definitely watch them more. I guess this will be the only season for this team, will no doubt break up over the summer. Lets hope not
Comment posted by jimboh, at 22:18 19 Feb 2020
For reference, Atalanta have the same wage bill as Reading (15th in Championship)
Comment posted by D1696017996680, at 22:43 19 Feb 2020
Delighted for Atalantia.

Always refreshing to see a team with a miniscule budget (& wage bill) by PL standards busting a gut & getting the job done in some style.
Comment posted by Fat Rat, at 22:00 19 Feb 2020
Atalanta are one of the best teams to watch in world football. Fluid all-out attacking football under Gasperini. Fantastic stuff.
Comment posted by gerardo , at 22:13 19 Feb 2020
Great to see free flowing football attacking from every angle no fear reminds me of the free flowing football Brazilian use to play in the 80s
Comment posted by D1713191168340, at 22:24 19 Feb 2020
Well done Atalanta. I didn't expect that but I like the way they play football. Their fans were excellent at City too.
Comment posted by D1669411812661, at 21:57 19 Feb 2020
Atlanta are a dangerous team!
Comment posted by Lawrence, at 22:09 19 Feb 2020
Write off Atalanta at your peril. A very dangerous and creative team. Deserved winners. The rest take note........
Comment posted by Sami2001, at 22:14 19 Feb 2020
Great result
Comment posted by Espresso, at 23:43 19 Feb 2020
Best Champions League performance from an Italian team at San Siro in nearly a decade and it doesn't involve Inter OR Milan!!
Comment posted by drew, at 22:24 19 Feb 2020
Atalanta pummeled Everton getting koeman his p45 a few seasons back and they played great then. Improved since then and are very exciting to watch. A joy and yes not the stereotype Italian style of old. What a result. Valencia battered
Comment posted by Truth, at 22:59 19 Feb 2020
@11 Can you compare their wage bill to a team called Man Utd please? Some say it's not fair to compare a champions league team spending to a mid table domestic league team.
Comment posted by User0308029307, at 03:37 20 Feb 2020
Well done Atalanta. You've done Italy proud.Just goes to show small clubs have more heart than the bigger ones in a lot of cases.Just carry on the way you're playing and fear no one.A quarter_final is surely waiting for you now.But why stop there?. You're capable of going further.Good luck guys! Being of Italian blood, I also wish Juve and Napoli the best of luck!
Comment posted by Jo, at 22:19 19 Feb 2020
Wonderful football. Stood their ground and had a presence. Refreshing is the word im looking for. The 3 goal cushion is a nice thing too. Continue to play like this like they deserve it.
Comment posted by return of the jock, at 22:51 19 Feb 2020
If I was drunk in Barcelona would that be a problem? Anyhoo enjoying myself in Barcelona and interested in this game as it's better than watching Jose's Spurs game zzzz. Interesting comment about Atlantas wage bill being comparable with Reading's. I think Atlanta have an advantage over Reading in as much as Reading really is grim. "I'm not in a good place atm, not mentally, I'm just in Reading"
Comment posted by D1685215375315, at 08:08 20 Feb 2020
Quite a side this. So far this season they have hammered Udinese 7-1, AC Milan 5-0, Parma 5-0 and Torino 7-0 away from home. Also lost to the bottom side 2-1 at home. Teams like this tend to be inconsistent but great to watch.

It’s refreshing to see a new name making some headlines, it’s dull watching the same clubs play each other every year.
Comment posted by graham, at 22:16 19 Feb 2020
I live in Valencia. Valencia football club reflects the character of the people here....None
Comment posted by ka, at 22:09 19 Feb 2020
High speed counter attacking football wbats not like?
I hope they go far and do one better than that Monaco side who played some thrilling football
Comment posted by m16, at 22:15 19 Feb 2020
Al the best to atletico
Comment posted by MCMLXXII, at 23:35 19 Feb 2020
Fantastic little Atalanta! Brilliant to watch.