Josip Ilicic is a key player for Gasperini at Atalanta, a coach on the field, a step magician and a decisive man who faces the rival goal. But he was not always at the disposal of the Italian team, which on Wednesday will face Real Madrid for the second round of the Champions League.
According to media reports, the Slovenian was in the mess that brought Alejandro “Papu” Gómez, whom he always supported, but in the end he resolved the differences with DT, who declared: “Ilicic is a recovered player”.
Recovered from what? He is a very reserved player, but extremely sensitive, maybe more affected by bad news than others.
He fled the war with his mother, did not have a father figure as a child and turned to football as a way of survival, more than anything.
She married an athlete, had problems in her marriage (she is said to have suffered an infidelity) and then came the most critical moments: she was diagnosed with lymphadenitis, an inflammation of the lymph nodes that was successfully treated but took left many fears. When his friend Davide Astori died while sleeping in a hotel, Ilicic confessed: “In those days I thought a lot about Davide, I was afraid to go to bed and not wake up, not to I see the family. ”
And then came the pandemic, which hit Bergamo, the city where he lives, first and especially hard. Dozens of deaths a day, crematoria, strict detention rules have put him in step. Fortunately, his team wrapped him up and allowed him to return to his country, along with his family, in those days when everything was stopped. He even missed the match in the quarterfinals against PSG in the last history of the Champions League for Atalanta.
But now he feels good and that’s how Gasperini, the Colombians Muriel and Zapata, celebrate, who get along perfectly on the field and in general an Atalanta who needs him to surprise Real Madrid.