Atalanta's Illicic donates UCL match-ball to Bergamo hospital
The Atalanta striker Josip Ilicic has donated the ball with which he scored four goals in the Champions League last week to a hospital in Bergamo.
Atalanta's Slovenian veteran striker Josip Ilicic has donated the match-ball from last week's Champions League win over Valencia at Mestalla to a hospital in Bergamo, with the Italian city in the Lombardy region at the epicentre off the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The 32-year-old striker bagged four goals as part of a 3-4 win over Valencia to see Atalanta secure a place in the quarter final stage of the 2019/20 Champions League with a 8-4 aggregate scoreline.
With hospitals appealing for funds to acquire equipment to combat the spread of the virus, Illicic donated the ball to the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in the city.
Italian football has been suspended through to the beginning of April at present with the country suffering through a high level of positive cases and the highest number of fatalities from coronavirus outside of China.