Ilicic: Without Covid, Atalanta would’ve reached Champions final | OneFootball

The former Atalanta, Fiorentina and Palermo striker recounts his career, the difficult moments and the regret over the Champions League final that slipped away in 2019.

Ilicic: “Without Covid, I would have taken Atalanta to the Champions League final”

Josip Ilicic, now 37 and playing for Koper in Slovenia, retraced his career in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. The former Atalanta star spoke about 2019, the year his team came close to the Champions League final:

“People ask me: without Covid and depression, how far would I have gone? I don’t know, but we would have played the Champions League final. I was in the best form ever and we weren’t afraid of anyone.”

Difficult moments: Covid and private life

Ilicic also revealed the darkest periods of his life:

“I wasn’t well, there were nasty rumors about my wife. But can anyone really think I would have found her with someone else? She took unbelievable insults. I suffered; I spent 42 days in Bergamo shut in at home, I didn’t know if I would return to play. In the end I went home; in Slovenia it was as if Covid didn’t exist, while in Bergamo coffins were parading on trucks: a terrible image.”

The influence of Gasperini: grueling training and success

Words of great esteem instead for Gian Piero Gasperini, the coach who convinced him to move to Atalanta:

“He convinced me to go to Atalanta; I was very close to Sampdoria. I discovered what it means to do a training camp with him: between one session and the next you can’t sleep, your legs throb and hurt. But how many games did we overturn thanks to that training? We lasted 90 minutes; the others were done by the 60th. Every now and then I argued with him, but when you love someone you fight. He pushed me beyond the limits I thought I had.”

The experience at Fiorentina: regrets and satisfactions

There is no shortage of criticism and regrets about his years at Fiorentina:

“I’m sorry to say it, but I’m done with the Fiorentina fans. They always criticized me, harping on how much I cost, but in four years I was twice top scorer and top assist-maker. Was I poor? Seriously? We finished fourth and it wasn’t enough. We reached a Europa League semifinal… and it wasn’t enough. There, too, the regret remains of having missed a cup final.”

Ilicic nonetheless emphasizes his affection for the city: “That said, I still have a home in Florence, top city. My family goes there from time to time.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.