De Roon: ‘Proud of Atalanta record, Bayern Munich Champions League favourites’
Marten de Roon celebrates a new Atalanta record and calls Bayern Munich the ‘favourites to win the Champions League, we have much to learn from them.’
A miracle was required after losing the first leg 6-1 at home, and La Dea only conceded in Munich from a retaken Harry Kane penalty.
However, Kane struck again after the restart, with Lennart Karl’s angled drive and a Luis Diaz lob on the counter-attack, with Lazar Samardzic late on grabbing a consolation goal by nodding in the corner.
De Roon makes Atalanta history tonight
“Thank you to the fans who came here to support us, and fortunately we managed to score a goal here too,” De Roon told Amazon Prime Video Italia.
He came off the bench for his 435th appearance in the Atalanta jersey, equalling the club record set by Gianpaolo Bellini.
“It is a great achievement, 435 is a lot of games, but I don’t want to stop here, I want to keep going. It is an honour to have played so many times for Atalanta.”
This means Bayern Munich will face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, with PSG vs. Liverpool, Barcelona-Atletico Madrid and Arsenal against Sporting CP.
“We have a lot to learn from this team,” noted De Roon. “We tried to press them at home and that didn’t work, so today we sat deeper, and they still scored four goals.
“We played against a truly extraordinary opponent, we’ve learned from this and have to lift our heads again straight away in Serie A.”
La Dea were the only remaining Italian team in the Champions League, so it is disappointing to see them swept aside 10-2 on aggregate.
“Italian teams have much to learn from these sides, in their movements and their pace. We are too static, too tactical, and even the referees in Europe let play flow much better without stopping and starting all the time,” explained De Roon.
“Today, Kane was playing as a striker, a right-back and a left-back at different times. You have to run so much to keep up.
“I think Bayern Munich are the favourites to win the Champions League, they impressed me so much tonight, and that was without Jamil Musiala, Michael Olise and Joshua Kimmich. We’ve got to be as humble as they are.”
Atalanta have plenty to focus on, as the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final with Lazio ended 2-2, while they are still in the fight for European places in Serie A.