Pio, Luis Henrique and Zielinski: "We are growing, we all feel important"

“When I came on, I immediately focused on having the right mindset and getting straight into the game. As soon as I started, a key ball came to me, and I tried to do my best with it, which was to provide the assist, and it worked, thankfully. My job is to be ready whenever I'm called up. I don't set any specific expectations for myself. I just aim to keep progressing, working hard every day, and learning from Lautaro and all the top players in our squad. It's easy to improve here because there's always someone to learn from. I want to carry on like this: working hard, growing and developing. Last year, I was playing in Serie B, and it was hard to imagine all this, but with determination to keep going and the commitment to work hard every day, you can achieve amazing things. I want to carry on like this because so far, this journey has been very rewarding.”

“Atalanta is a tough team with a lot of quality, and they play man-to-man. I’m happy and tired, but what matters is that we’re top of the table. The most important thing is that we’ve returned to first place. I’ve been working hard and trying to be ready for everything the coach asks of me. Compared to the start of the season, I’m playing more and feeling good, and all my teammates give me confidence and support.”

“Winning always makes a big difference. When you take all three points home, you're happy. Today in the first half we played well, although maybe we lacked a bit of aggressiveness in front of the goal. Marcus even scored, but it was ruled out for offside. In the second half, we did well, especially Pio who recovered an important ball and then set up our striker, allowing us to win the game. Last year, I wasn't able to play as much I wanted, partly because of injuries, and ahead of me were incredible players who had extraordinary seasons. The coach had his starting lineup clearly defined. This year, things are a bit different: the coach involves more players and makes everyone feel important. He gives us confidence and makes us believe that many of us can be starters. This is very positive because we have so many quality players, and you can see that on the pitch.”