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FILE - In this Saturday, March 21, 202 file photo, coffins, one of them with the pennant of the local soccer team, wait to be transported to cemetery, in the church of Serina, Seriana valley, where many Atalanta fans live, near Bergamo, Northern Italy. It was the biggest soccer game in Atalanta’s history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium to witness it. Nearly 2,500 fans of visiting Spanish club Valencia also traveled to the Champions League match. More than a month later, experts are pointing to the Feb. 19 game as one of the biggest reasons why Bergamo has become one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic — a “biological bomb” was the way one respiratory specialist put it — and why 35% of Valencia’s team became infected. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP, File)

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Game Zero: Spread of virus linked to Champions League match
March 25, 2020 8:19 a.m.

Game Zero: Spread of virus linked to Champions League match

ROME (AP) — It was the biggest soccer game in Atalanta’s history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium.