Glenn Stromberg: “Atalanta is a reality”

Glenn Stromberg will commentate on the Atalanta-PSG match, quarter-final of the Uefa Champions League, for Swedish national television. For the unforgettable former Atalanta captain it's a dream come true and, in the interview recorded on the eve of the match, when commenting on the journey of the Nerazzurri, he said: "Atalanta is a reality".

“Not to mention dreams, it seemed reality some time ago. Then the group was iffy, Atalanta had a bad start, so there was no chance. My television told me: "As soon as Atalanta play an interesting game, you'll do some commentating”. There was no chance and I understood them, as there were more interesting games. Of course they need audience. Now it has occurred. This is the match of the matches”.

Glenn, it'll be in your stadium, as you became a professional footballer on the pitch that will see Atalanta take on PSG.

“Yes. It seems almost impossible. There are many things: I became a professional footballer at Benfica. At that moment they were a great team for us in Sweden. Then Atalanta that will play in the UCL quarter-finals… who would have thought something like that ten, fifteen years ago? And then now, tragically because of the Coronavirus, they have to play all the matches in Portugal, but they'll do it at the Estádio da Luz, the stadium where I began. I can guarantee you that I'll feel so many things tomorrow. I'm already feeling it now”.

Glenn, we can't forget that here in Lisbon you beat Sporting as a player and brought Atalanta, together with your teammates, into the Cup Winners' Cup semifinals.

“One of the things that I remember the most, but I believe that also the people in Bergamo remember the most, as it was an incredible run, especially because we played in the Serie B. I saw that in the last few weeks many people called me from different countries to talk about Atalanta now that they're playing the UCL quarter-finals, as what they're doing right now seems like a dream, like what we did, i.e. reaching the semifinals of a European cup when playing in the Serie B”.

Did Atalanta surprise you?

“They surprised me very much, but especially some time ago. Everything is slowly coming together, I can see them as a reality now. I can see it through the results they deliver, through how they win games, but also, I'm like the Atalanta mascot around Europe, as I'm always in these stadiums, where the others don't know anybody. There are no other Atalantini there, in the Champions League, in the Premier League or when we cover the Serie A, or Spain, or Germany. They are slowly starting to talk about Atalanta. Now they are starting to talk about them also during the games, in the last 16. "Atalanta scored” came from other colleagues commentating the games for other countries. As they know that I care about Atalanta and they know that if they need anything to know about Atalanta, they can ask me anytime. It's a nice job, as everyone asks me about Atalanta and I like it”.

This makes you proud, as you wore the Nerazzurri colours. Whatever happens in this game, Atalanta-PSG, Atalanta are among the best 8 teams in Europe, with a qualification for next year's Champions League.

“Exactly. They proved, year after year, that they are not there by chance, as you can think like this on the first time. Now we see that it's not like that. It's really nice, as I'm starting to listen to the experts from other countries, who comment day by day, week by week, I see former players that work for the TVs like I do. And everybody is starting questioning about Atalanta, as maybe a month ago it was difficult to play against PSG, now they're slowly starting thinking that Atalanta can do something. We mustn't rush, but we must remember that it's 90 minutes, they deserve to be there, they know how to score, anything can happen. We also have to remember that - which is another thing that people forget about it and I probably said it at the beginning - for a team that have 0 points after three matches in the group stages. Even if they're called Manchester City or Liverpool, I didn't think they would have made it through, as it was almost impossible. Atalanta performed that miracle too. They deserve to be there and have to go there with confidence and give their all, which they will do”.