Sulemana exalts Atalanta: Roma KO, it's a Champions League party in the silence of Gewiss

Bergamo, 13 May 2025 – For the fifth time since 2019, Atalanta has qualified for next season's Champions League. For the fourth time since 2019, Atalanta is third in the league, a result never achieved before in its history. For the eighth time since 2017, Atalanta is back in Europe, for the eleventh time in its history (the first three European qualifications between 1987 and 1990). All this with two days to spare.

Beating Roma 2-1 at the Gewiss with goals from Ademola Lookman and in the 76th minute of the 22-year-old Ghanaian midfielder Ibrahim Sulemana, the Goddess closed her season with 180 minutes to spare, achieving her main objective, the return to the Champions League, under the satisfied eyes of co-owner Stephen Pagliuca, who came especially from the States for the announced party and to start planning, once he has obtained the Champions pass, the next season.

Starting from the question of the Gian Piero Gasperini's stay, the coach of the repeated miracles of these last nine years of Italian and international victories. An evening of joy at the end, after ninety minutes in the silence of the Gewiss Stadium, without chants from the home fans out of respect for the mourning for the killing of Riccardo Claris, and without yellow and red supporters, for whom travel was prohibited.

The banner of the Curva Nord of Atalanta, which remained without colors and chants for all '90 in homage to Riccardo Claris, killed after a fight between fans

Before the race the North curve paid his last respects to Riccardo Claris unfurling a long banner that read: 'Taken away from a world without conscience, your absence echoes in the silence, goodbye Claris.'

Then the match, with Atalanta more than Roma, with the goal after eight minutes by Lookman on a free pass from De Ketelaere and three missed chances by a hair's breadth by Ederson and twice in front of goal by Retegui, before the surprise equaliser, with the goal by the former Cristante, with a header, after half an hour. The second half saw more Nerazzurri energy, concretised in the 76th minute by a thunderbolt outside the area by Sulemana, a boy on the fringes this season, 120 minutes played up to this evening, a hero not by chance, joker drawn by maestro Gasperini (acclaimed with an ovation at the end by the Gewiss audience) on the most important night, the one that brought the Goddess back to the Champions League. Starting tomorrow we will talk about Gasp's future and the next market.