“I’ll tell you what I think. That game, Atalanta v Valencia at the San Siro, was a biological bomb. Forty thousand Bergamaschi all travelling together or at the same time to Milan, by bus, train or car…”
The speaker is Fabiano Di Marco, who is chief physician at the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, northern Italy. In an interview with Corriere Della Sera, he confirmed an uncomfortable suspicion that the Atalanta-Valencia Champions League tie, on February 19 in Milan, may have been a major catalyst in spreading the COVID-19 virus in Italy.
On that joyous night, when 40,000 Atalanta fans headed to Milan – the club was playing its Champions League games at the San Siro because its own stadium in Bergamo is under renovation – nobody suspected that…