Gasperini had COVID-19 and still managed Atalanta at the Mestalla

Atalanta manager, Gian Piero Gasperini, brought the Champions League knockout tie between the Bergamo outfit and Valencia back into focus.

Much has been written about those matches and now it has been known that the Italian manager was ill in the second leg, probably with coronavirus.

He himself explained it to 'La Gazzetta dello Sport':  "I had the coronavirus. I felt bad before the match against Valencia and on the day of the match, I was even worse. No fever, but I was a mess. I never had a PCR test, but the serological test confirmed that I had the disease".

"I didn't have a good face on the bench. After Valencia, the next two nights in Zingonia, I slept little. I didn't have a fever, but I felt my bones breaking. Outside, an ambulance passed every two minutes. It was like war", Gasperini continued.

"I had lost my taste, but I didn't know I had the virus. Then serological tests a couple of weeks ago confirmed it: I had COVID-19", the Atalanta manager added.

A few days after the knockout tie, various Valencia players tested positive and now it is known that if Gasperini had contact with them, he could have infected them.

The manager of the Bergamo side, however, advocates playing again as soon as possible: "Some people think that going back to the pitch is immoral after what has happened and at the risk of it happening again. But it's the only way to get back to normal. But I don't like playing without fans and I don't like the fact that five substitutions are allowed".