Losing 0-2 at the end of the first half, Atalanta bounced back through Marten #deRoon in the second half. However, in the end, It was Napoli that scored once again and won: “It’s a pity as we played well”.
Marten de Roon, the password is to bounce back immediately.
“Yes, we have to. There’s another match right away on Thursday. It’s a pity [we lost], as we put in a great performance. We dominated. We pressed high and gave everything. We did our best. I think, before the penalty, we had some chances which we should have converted. When you’re trailing, it becomes more difficult [to score]. We picked ourselves up right after the opener. But losing 0-2 just before half-time was hard”.
The team bounced back, though, thanks to your goal.
“Yes. We told each other at half-time that if we kept playing like this, we would surely score. But we should be more alert about counterattacks. We pulled one back thanks to my goal. But then, unfortunately, we weren’t able to press high and give our 110%. Maybe, we were a bit tired. Otherwise, we would have scored the second goal. We shouldn’t have conceded the third goal like that, on a counterattack. It’s a real pity.
There was a tackle between Muriel and Anguissa inside the box. The referee spent some time explaining to you why he penalised Muriel.
“We went to ask [the referee]. As, in our opinion, Muriel’s leg was in front. Anguissa seemed to touch it. But he explained immediately that he [Muriel] put the leg in front. Muriel was the first to touch Anguissa. He [the referee] said that the VAR confirmed that it wasn’t a penalty. So, there was nothing else to be done”.
Marten, you said that now you would shift the focus onto Leipzig. Maybe, this match will be even more difficult than the one against Napoli. Could it be that today, during the match, you were already focused on the match in Germany?
“I don’t think so. If we played worse, I could agree. Considering how we played, we gave our everything on the pitch, I don’t think we were already focused on that match. It would have been perfect for Thursday’s [match] if we had got the result. It’s a pity. But we feel confident about Thursday. If you play like this, you can score and get a result”.