Marten de Roon breaks Atalanta record with 436th club appearance

[p]Club captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-roon-marten/SUUtwXea/"]Marten de Roon[/a] started in the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/atalanta-8C9JjMXu/verona-rJVAIaHo/?mid=lxuGcxZ0"]Serie A game[/a] against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/verona/rJVAIaHo/"]Hellas Verona[/a], which was his 436th game for the Bergamo outfit. It broke the record of former defender [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellini-gianpaolo/6VQS89LJ/"]Gianpaolo Bellini[/a], who played 436 games for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atalanta/8C9JjMXu/"]Atalanta[/a] between 1997 and 2016, when he retired.[/p][embed guid="758fff5d-c681-465d-b495-4e70c8aef8df" url="https://x.com/Atalanta_BC/status/2035719180381536700?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]De Roon, 34, joined Atalanta from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/heerenveen/EDjXSyWG/"]sc Heerenveen[/a] in 2015 and played 37 games in his first season in Italy. Following a year spent in the Premier League with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/middlesbrough/6F0lvLNC/"]Middlesbrough[/a], Atalanta brought De Roon back for nearly €17 million in 2017, after which the former Netherlands international never lost his spot in the starting XI.[/p][p]The Dutchman received the captain's armband for the first time in the 2023/24 season - becoming the first foreign captain in club history - and led his team to the UEFA Europa League final in 2024. A knee injury kept De Roon from playing the final, in which Atalanta won their first-ever European trophy by beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayer-leverkusen/4jcj2zMd/"]Bayer Leverkusen[/a] 3-0.[/p][embed guid="1cc331a9-8a6f-43bd-96c7-97e580c9d32c" url="https://x.com/Dirono/status/2035694685583192327?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]After posting a video on his social media about his record appearance, De Roon looked back on his record appearance with pride int he post-match conference.[/p][p][b]“This was an emotional day from the very first minute, though I tried to focus on the game as much as I could,” [/b]De Roon said.[/p][p][b]“I feel so close to Bergamo and to Atalanta, I felt at home from the first day. I still feel good and want to keep playing as long as I can. Bellini was a real gentleman about this record, and, of course he was my captain when I arrived too.”[/b][/p][p]De Roon's contract at Atalanta runs out in the summer.[/p]