He has already played an international match at the Gewiss Stadium with his national team, but now the Oranje player Hans Hateboer will make his UCL debut in the Nerazzurri stadium, facing one of the best Dutch teams: “It’s nice to play Ajax in Bergamo”.

“Yes, sure. It will be special for me. I hoped we met them [in our group] last year, but I’m really happy we’re playing Ajax this year”.

Hans, you’re playing at the Gewiss Stadium, you have already broken the ice a bit, as you played there with the Netherlands squad.

“Yes, but it’s much different from playing at home. It’s not like usual, it’s not like playing at home, as without fans is a whole another world. Hence you can’t say that you’re playing at home, but it’s nice to play Ajax in Bergamo, sure”.

What should Atalanta be afraid of Ajax, of this “battleship”?

“I think Ajax have always been an example for everyone for how they play. Everybody knows. We saw that two years ago in the Champions League, as they did very well with their usual style of play. It’s nice for us to play Ajax and it’s even nicer for me, personally”.

What type of match will it be? You sit on three points, while they necessarily have to score points.

“I think it’ll be a very nice game, it’ll be very different to the match against Sampdoria. Ajax want to play, to attack, to score goals like us. I think it’ll be an amazing match”.