Marten de Roon will honour his promise to make pizza for 1,000 people and throw a party in Bergamo’s main square if Atalanta win the Champions League as Italian club prepare for PSG showdown
- Atalanta face Paris Saint-Germain in Lisbon in the Champions League quarters
- Dutch midfielder pledged to make pizza for 1,000 if Atalanta won trophy
- De Roon has reiterated promise to throw pizza party in Bergamo’s main square
- He believes single-legged format of Champions League finals will favour them
Marten de Roon is sticking by his promise to make pizza for more than 1,000 people if Atalanta win the Champions League.
The Italian side take on Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night and ahead of the game in Lisbon, De Roon was reminded of his pledge.
Back in April, the Dutch midfielder said: ‘I will put a table on the central square in Bergamo for 1,000 people and serve everyone pizza, made by me. Then I’ll throw a party and everyone’s invited.’
Atalanta’s Marten de Roon has promised to make pizza for 1,000 people if the team wins the Champions League. They face Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night
Dutch midfielder De Roon made his pizza promise back in April and pledged it again this week
And reminded of his promise on Tuesday night, De Roon reiterated: ‘As I said, if we win the Champions League there will be pizza for more than 1,000 people.
‘However, if we lose, we will try to reach that goal again next year. I can’t support us losing. We will again next year and we will see how it goes.’
The clash between the top scorers this season in Serie A and Ligue 1 at the Estadio da Luz promises to be an entertaining affair, with the winners facing either RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.
With the Champions League finale shortened because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the quarter-final will be played over just one leg and De Roon believes that will be to Atalanta’s advantage against Neymar, Mbappe and Co.
Under Gian Piero Gasperini, Atalanta have embarked on an unlikely Champions League run
Josip Ilicic scored all four goals in Valencia but will not be available for the quarter-final
‘Playing only 90 minutes against such a strong side is easier than facing them over two legs,’ he said.
‘We can cause an upset, even if it will be difficult. We will give our best. At the time of the draw, I thought it would be a fantastic game.
‘After the first leg of the group stage [Atalanta lost their first three matches], we didn’t think we could get this far.
‘We wanted to win the last two games to qualify for the Europa League and instead it went well for us.
Players held up shirt which read: ‘Bergamo, this is for you. Never give up.’ after win in Valencia
‘The break after the championship has been good for us. We played a lot and it wasn’t easy.
‘We don’t run more than the other, we do it better, given we spend most of the matches in the opposition’s half of the pitch. Our goal is to get the ball back as high up as possible.’