Young Boys "knocked for six" in Bern and another UCL win!
Goals galore courtesy of Retegui-De Ketelaere braces and Kolašinac-Samardžić solos
By knocking the hosts for six in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League MD5, the Nerazzurri have closed November with the Grand Slam 6-1 win over Young Boys to climb up to 11 points in the standings whilst extending their League Phase unbeaten streak to five consecutive matches.
Swaying to high tempo since the opening minutes, the deadlock was broken in the 9th: sent through by De Ketelaere, Retegui flaunted all his cold blood to come out on top from the mano-a-mano with Von Balmoos and score his first Champions League goal. The hosts responded with a knee-jerk reaction and pulled one back on 11 minutes with Ganvoula following a corner kick. The corner-kick giveth, and the corner-kick taketh away, though, as the newfound balance didn't last long: picking up Knossonou's back-heel brush, De Ketelaere fired the ball home with a left-footed scorcher on 28 minutes to bring the Nerazzurri back on top. While Cuadrado only managed to sting the opposing keeper's gloves in the 30th, the 3-1 goal only had to sit tight for two minutes more: opening up a stunning team play with his retrieval, Kolašinac eventually came full circle by converting De Ketelaere's through ball with a powerful left-footed finish. 39 minutes in and here came the black-and-blue haul: waving his magic wand once again, De Ketelaere sparked Retegui with his third assist of the game as our number 32 put the first half on ice with his second of the night.
Roughly 10 minutes after the onset of the second half, the Nerazzurri scored the 5th of the night with De Ketelaere, who, also favoured by a sprinkle of fortune, put the (provisional) cherry on top of his monster performance by completing his brace after his shot picked up a winning deflection. Atalanta neared the "set-point" on 76 minutes, when Samardžić's shot got turned over the bar by the keeper. The Serbian virtuoso nonetheless saw his efforts vindicated right before the final whistle: upon sneaking past his markers and into the box, our number 24 drilled the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 6-1 in Bern.
YOUNG BOYS - ATALANTA
Scorers: Retegui 9, 39 (A), Ganvoula 11 (YB), De Ketelaere 28, 56 (A), Kolašinac 32 (A), Samardžić 90 (A).
Young Boys: Von Ballmoos, Blum, Camara, Lauper, Hadjam (Athekame 78), Ugrinic, Niasse, Lakomy (Males 46), Colley (Virginius 46), Ganvoula (Ittem 60), Monteiro (Elia 67). Unused bench: Keller, Marzino, Imeri, Benito, Smith. Coach: Joël Magnin.
Atalanta: Carnesecchi, Kossounou, Hien (Godfrey 80), Kolašinac (Toloi 75), Cuadrado, de Roon, Pašalić, Ruggeri, Brescianini (Samardžić 63), De Ketelaere (Palestra 75), Retegui (Zaniolo 63). Unused bench: Rui Patrício, Rossi, Godfrey, Lookman, Bellanova, Djimsiti, Manzoni. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas (LTU);
Assistant referees: Mangirdas Mirauskas (LTU) and Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU);
Fourth official: Vilius Paulauskas (LTU);
V.A.R.: Dennis Higler (NED);
A.V.A.R.: Clay Ruperti (NED).
Notes: Colley (YB), Brescianini (A) and Elia (YB) booked.