Josip Ilicic is a key piece for Gasperini in Atalanta, a coach on the field, a magician for the step and a decisive man for the rival goal. But he was not always available to the Italian team, which will face Real Madrid for the second round of the Champions League next Wednesday.
The Slovenian, according to press reports, would have been in the mess that Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gómez got, who he always supported, but he eventually settled disagreements with the DT, which stated, “Ilicic is a recovered player.”
Recovered from what? He is a very reserved but extremely sensitive player, perhaps more affected by bad news than others.
He fled the war with his mother, did not have a father figure in his youth and mainly found his way into football as a way of survival.
He married an athlete, had troubles in his marriage (he was said to be unfaithful) and then came the most critical moments: he was diagnosed with lymphadenitis, an inflammation of the lymph nodes that was successfully treated but left him with 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 sleep and not wake up, and never see my family again.”
And then came the pandemic that hit Bergamo, the city where he lives, first and foremost hard. The dozens of deaths a day, the crematoria, the strict rules of confinement put him on the edge. Fortunately, his team packed him up and allowed him to return to his country with his family in those days when everything was at a standstill. He even missed the quarter-final against PSG in the last historic Champions League for Atalanta.
But now he is doing well and this is what Gasperini, Colombians Muriel and Zapata are celebrating, who understand each other perfectly on the field and in general an Atalanta who needs him to surprise Real Madrid.