Atalanta manager hails "extraordinary" friendship of Ukraine and Russia stars

Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has hailed the "extraordinary" friendship between Russian star Aleksei Miranchuk and Ukraine's Ruslan Malinovskyi as the duo watch from afar while Russia escalates its attacks on Ukraine.

While air strikes and offensives continued to the east, the midfielders both played a part for the Italian club as they beat Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 clash.

Malinovskyi registered a goal and two assists in the European tie, while Miranchuk replaced Luis Muriel late on as Gasperini's side ensured they will take a narrow advantage to BayArena next week.

After the win, the manager - as well as Atalanta teammates Maarten de Roon and Davide Zappacosta - shed some more light on the remarkable situation facing their colleagues.

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"He and his family are going through something" Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia when asked about Malinovskyi.

"We spend a lot of our time as a squad watching the news. This has shaken us up perhaps even more than COVID, and that hit Bergamo hard.

"Clearly, he has family and friends still there. We are also close to Miranchuk. It's an extraordinary friendship they have, Miranchuk feels almost embarrassed by the situation.

"People matter more than flags and borders, this is a good lad and he deserves respect too."

Malinovskyi tweeted after the game explaining his goal was "dedicated to all the victims of war in Ukraine," and fellow midfielder De Roon shed more light on the difficult situation.

"Ruslan has his family there, there is always difficult news, it is complicated to disconnect from it in the dressing room," the former Middlesbrough man said.

"We try to help them, but it's really complex, we who have family in other countries can't even imagine all that."

"Malinovskyi and Miranchuk? At this moment the situation is not easy for anyone, we could not imagine it would come to this," said Zappacosta, who rejoined Atalanta from Chelsea over the summer.

"We try to stay close to them, who are great friends: their beautiful friendship should be shown as an example to those who are fighting this senseless war."

A flag was held up at Atalanta's Gewiss Stadium during the game, depicting Miranchuk and Malinovskyi holding hands and carrying the colours of the players' national flags.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a direct impact on those within the footballing world, with two players killed within a week of forces entering the country.

Another Ukrainian player learned his apartment had been shelled while he was away with teammates on a mid-season training camp, while Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna has spoken of the mission to get his team's players away from danger.

There have been a number of shows of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, including at Wembley Stadium ahead of the Carabao Cup final just days after the invasion.