The coronavirus has put a damper on many, but perhaps extra hard on Atalanta’s Josip Iličić.
Before the coronavirus stopped football, Josip Iličić ravaged the attack on Atalanta. In the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Valencia on March 10, he scored four goals in the same match.
Atalanta’s attacking play has been praised many times this season, and with one game left of the season, Atalanta stands with 98 goals. Only Manchester City has more in the big leagues, with 102 goals. And one of those who has pulled the load in Atalanta’s fantastic season is Josip Iličić. 21 goals and 9 assists in 34 games is the result for the Slovenian.
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But after football reopened, Iličić has not been himself anymore. Zero target points in June and July. The explanation should be outside the football field, according to Italian media.
– Personal problems
On Saturday, the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that the pandemic has hit extra hard on Atalanta’s dangerous offensive weapons. The newspaper writes that Iličić has personal problems he is trying to solve, and hints that he is struggling with depression.
July 11 is the last time the Slovenian played a match. In the next five matches he was not part of the squad. Eventually, he did not show up at the gym either, according to Sky Sport Italia.
FOUR GOALS: Against Valencia in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Iličić scored four goals in the same match.
Photos: – (AFP)
Officially, the explanation that he has not played has been that he has struggled with an ankle injury, and that he has tried to get in shape for Atalanta’s important match against PSG in the Champions League. According to several Italian media, this has been a cover story, to hide the problem he has had outside the football field.
Went home
The club is said to have sat down and talked to Iličić, and understood that football was not at the center of his mind right now. Therefore, Atalanta have given him permission to return home to Slovenia, in the hope that he will return to Italy as the player he was before the coronavirus.
Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was asked about Iličić at a press conference earlier this week.
– The more time that passes, the less likely it is that we will see Iličić play, he said, when asked if Iličić will play against PSG in the Champions League.
According to Gazzetto dello Sport, Iličić will not play more this season. Whether he will return to the football field at all will also be uncertain.
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