This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Former Atalanta player Marino Margrin has told Tutto Mercato Web that he would like his team to get either Liverpool or Barcelona in the next round of the Champions League.
What did he say?
The 60-year-old is something of a club legend at Atalanta, having spent six years with the club during the 1980s, being promoted with them from Serie C1 to the top tier of Italian football.
Talking about Monday’s draw for the next round of the European competition, he said: “Atalanta is now in history and I would like to play it all with Barcelona or Liverpool.”
The feeling’s mutual
With Liverpool currently the champions of Europe, they are unlikely to fear anyone, and Jurgen Klopp and the players are probably going to say as much in the build-up to Monday’s draw. They have already shown over the past 18 months that they can beat almost anyone on the planet, and they will be confident of beating whatever opposition they face when the tournament resumes in February.
Can you name the result these iconic Liverpool images belong to? Give it a go now…
Having said that, if they could hand-pick any team to play in the next round, it would probably be Atalanta. The Serie A side are in their first-ever season in the competition, having qualified for the maiden time last term, and they have already lost 4-0 to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, who did not win another game during the group stages. In fact, they lost all of their first three matches and, with seven points, they picked up less than any other side who made it through to the next round of the competition.
Such opposition would surely have Liverpool licking their lips, especially during a season in which they could play a record number of games. The fixture congestion has already been so bad, they will be forced to play two matches in 24 hours next week, and we are only in December. Against Atalanta, there is a real possibility they could put the game out of sight in the first match, which would allow Klopp to then rotate and keep his players fresh as we progress towards the business end of the campaign.
If they want to lift the trophy for the second consecutive year, they will need to face the big boys at some point, but that can wait. For now, the weakest possible opponent will do, and that team is Atalanta.
In other news, this Liverpool man confirms he has a hamstring problem.
