Josip Ilicic, 32, is considering quitting football after he was granted permission to leave the Italian club’s training camp for personal reasons.
Ilicic met his wife Tina Polovina in 2009 and soon enough got married to her, they have two daughters Sofia and Victoria, rumours have it that the “little heart ” celebration the striker does after every goal is a dedication to his wife, Tina.
The Slovenian striker seems to have slipped into depression after he found his wife cheating on him when he decided to pay her a surprise visit at their country home in Slovenia.
Speaking after their Serie A match, Atalanta manager Gasperini told Sky Sports Italy, “We’re getting closer to the day [of the PSG game]. With each passing day, it is more difficult for us to have Ilicic back. It would be very difficult for him to be with us in Lisbon.”
The Italian side is set to play their round of 16 fixture against PSG on Saturday, August 12, with the remaining fixtures of the Champions League set to be played as a one-game knock out game, and will likely play either Atletico Madrid or RB Salzburg in the semi-final.
PSG will be without its star striker Kylian Mbappe as he recovers from an ankle injury which he picked up against St Etienne, and missed out on his side’s French Cup final win against Lyon to win a domestic quadruple.
Ilicic has been in fine form this season, scoring 21 goals in 34 matches, including five goals in the Champions League. The striker’s goals have been very crucial to the team’s fairytale season in Italy and Europe top competition with just two goals shy of 100 goals in Serie A.
Atalanta will surely miss their top striker, but Colombian forward Zapata and Luis Muriel have 19 goals each this season, while Mario Pasalic and Alejandro Gomez are both on double figures. Atalanta finished the season third on the league table as they failed to overcome Inter Milan in their last game of the season.
247NNU
