Marco Sportiello has claimed Atalanta have “a chance” of overcoming Valencia and advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The Nerazzurri are preparing to welcome Los Che later this month and back-up goalkeeper Sportiello has admitted the draw could have been worse for the Bergamaschi.
“I think we have a chance, it’s better to face Valencia than Barcelona or Bayern Munich,” he told Bergamo TV. “We still play against a team with a lot of experience, but the Champions League is strange.”
The goalkeeper admitted that the Dea started their experience in the Champions League with “a schock”, but now he gives them a “50 per cent chance of going through”.
“The first game in Zagreb was a shock, they put us under from a technical point of view,” he admitted. “However, we’ve seen how it went, but it surely wasn’t easy.
“These are strange games where you can expect anything to happen. After the first half against City, in the return leg we stopped to show respect for the opponents, and we broke the ice. From that moment, we launched off.
“We have a 50 per cent chance of going through.”
Pierluigi Gollini has been the first choice for Atalanta this term and played in all six matches in the Champions League so far.
Sportiello has only played three times in Serie A this term and it’s expected that he will be on the bench also against Valencia on February 19.
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