The second half of the Champions League group stage begins for Young Boys on Tuesday. The Swiss champions will be hoping to pick up their first points at home against Atalanta Bergamo.
Joël Magnin had barely been promoted to senior coach at YB for the second time when the Champions League match against Inter Milan was already on the agenda. The Bernese were close to winning a point before a goal conceded by Marcus Thuram in the 93rd minute dashed YB's hopes.
Just over a month later, the next top Italian team will be visiting the Wankdorf. Atalanta Bergamo are in 2nd place in the table, even ahead of Inter, who are level on points. Comparisons are therefore inevitable. "We have to be just as courageous as we were against Inter. We saw what's possible when every player gives their best," said Magnin at the press conference ahead of the clash.
Magnin is expecting an opponent who, compared to Milan, will rely a little more on man-to-man marking and then quickly look for the dangerous strikers Ademola Lookman and Mateo Retegui. The latter has already scored twelve goals this season. Lookman, who fired Atalanta to the Europa League title with three goals against Leverkusen in May, has nine goals to his name.
Memories of Hefti's dream goal in 2021
Goalkeeper David von Ballmoos said after watching the video that the team's style of play had hardly changed since the last time they met. Three years ago, the two teams also faced each other in the top flight. YB lost 1-0 away from home, but picked up a point in a spectacular 3-3 draw at home. "Atalanta is a team that plays with pressing almost all over the pitch," said von Ballmoos, who has alternated with Marvin Keller in the Champions League so far and will therefore probably also be in goal on Tuesday. "We have to stay active against the ball and try to make our own mark in return."
Silvan Hefti is another player who remembers the 3-3 draw in Bern well. The defender scored a dream goal for YB to make it 3-2 at the interval: "In such an important game and then with a left-footed goal, that was certainly the highlight. We played a great match, but unfortunately we couldn't reward ourselves with a win," Hefti told blue Sport in an interview.
The defender, who is now under contract with HSV in Germany, explains how Atalanta played at the time: "At that time, Atalanta always played one-on-one, even against us. They wanted to go one-on-one all over the pitch. That was their tactical approach. That's what Atalanta stood for." Atalanta had unbelievable power and you had to come up against them first.
Hefti is confident that Young Boys, who are still without points in the Champions League, can do something against Atalanta: "I think there is a lot of potential in this club and also in the current team. They've already shown, especially in the Champions League qualifiers, that they can be extremely dangerous against good opponents." Many things are possible, says Hefti. However, it should not be forgotten that Atalanta have become a very big and good team over the years: "That's why it will be difficult, but I see chances for YB," said Hefti.
Artificial turf as a "small advantage"
Young Boys remain decimated in terms of personnel. There is a chance that Loris Benito and Patric Pfeiffer will return to the squad. They were recently able to train with the team again. However, they are not an option for the starting line-up, according to Magnin.
The Italian side also asked the YB coach about the artificial turf in Bern. The 53-year-old only partially agreed with the theory that this had been a decisive advantage against Inter and could also be so against Atalanta. "It might be a small advantage at the start. But top teams who are less used to this surface usually don't need more than 20 to 30 minutes to adjust." The aim is to make the most of this phase with the support of the home crowd.
Despite the zero points in the account, Magnin did not want to describe the clash with Atalanta as a game of last chance with regard to a possible progression. In this situation, he would rather concentrate on the next task than on the table.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the penultimate home game in the group stage will set the tone for the rest of the campaign. YB, who play two away games (Stuttgart and Celtic Glasgow) after Atalanta and then host Red Star Belgrade at the end, need a sense of achievement.
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