Kolarov: "Our strength lies in our togetherness: we have nothing to prove"

“I don't think we started badly. Bologna were fresher than us, but that's no excuse. They had a very good first half, and we struggled a bit with second balls and their intensity. But the players know what they need to do and believe in what we're doing. I think we dominated the second half. The Champions League is played at a very high tempo, and while we always try to play our football in the league, we want to be just as aggressive in Europe. We've had a few setbacks, but we know how strong we are and we're confident we can make up the points we've dropped. We want to be more aggressive than before, even though that's something we've always worked on. Our strength is the group and the quality we have in the squad. We don't have to prove anything to anyone but ourselves. Today, in Madrid and during the first 60 minutes against Brugge, we showed how much intensity we want to bring to our play in possession. It's not easy, but we want to move the ball quickly, especially at the back, to give our midfielders and forwards that extra second to work with. They're outstanding players who can make the difference. As for Carlos, he never misses a training session. He's hugely important to us, and I'm really pleased for him because of everything he gives the team every day. We never had any doubts about his quality”