Atalanta tie 3-3 at Young Boys, winning one point. The question of who will qualify for the Champions League Round of 16 is still open. Here are the post-match reaction of José Palomino, Duván Zapata and Remo Freuler.

José Palomino

Jose Palomino, what a pity! You very nearly won the match. Even if it was important to equalise, afterwards.

“Yes. We’re not satisfied with the way we played today. Perhaps, we created more chances in the second half. We had another mindset going into the second half. One home match remains, against Villarreal, who are strong. So, we hope to keep on working hard and improving, We hope to improve what we can do better. In this way, we’ll be able to continue to play in this competition.”

It was difficult to play on this [artificial] pitch. Did it turn out to be even more difficult than you had expected?

“Yes. The pitch was difficult as well as the opponent. They didn’t let us play our game. As I said before, we did well in the second half. It was a bit better than the first half. I think we could have done more in the first half. But the match went like this. Now we must focus on improving ourselves. We have to do better to have the chance to progress.”

Duván Zapata

Duván Zapata, what a crazy match it was, against Young Boys! You were leading. Then you risked losing it and then it ended 3-3.

“Yes, it was an open game at times. Perhaps, we could have put it to bed when we were 2-1 up. If we had finished better some of the chances. But we’ve won a point, anyway. We must be satisfied. We’re a bit disappointed because we could have won it. We’ll only have one possible result in the last match against Villarreal in Bergamo. And we’ll give everything to get it.”

Exactly, you’ll play against Villarreal at the Gewiss Stadium, in front of your fans. Of course, you’ll have only one option. You’ll necessarily have to win. You still have a chance.

“Yes, we’ll play the way we always do. It was never easy over all these three years since we’ve been playing in the Champions League. That’s it. I think the squad are capable of bringing out the best of ourselves under pressure.  So, that’s it. We have to rest now. We have tough matches ahead in the League. Thanks to our performance in the League, we are here. We have to be optimistic. Obviously, we must always improve, there’s always room to do this. Of course, we’ll see what we can improve. As I’ve said before, the last match remains, against Villarreal in Bergamo. It will be a decisive one.”

Remo Freuler

Remo Freuler, it’s a pity you let the victory slip through your fingers.

“Yes, it’s a great pity. We took the lead twice. Then we failed to kill the game off. We conceded two goals at the end and within four minutes. In the end, we have to be pleased to win a point.”

It was a difficult match held on a difficult pitch. It can’t be an alibi. It was a complicated match, though.

“No, it can’t be an alibi! Even if it [the artificial pitch] was difficult. They are used to it. But we had taken the lead twice. It means that we did well, too. Then we stopped playing after 20 minutes of the first half. We conceded easy goals in the second half.”

Remo, you still have a chance to qualify against Villarreal at the Gewiss Stadium on 8 December.

“Yes, we’re still in contention. Before the match, we knew we would have the option of two results [in the last game] if we had won. But we didn’t manage to. But we hope now, in front of our fans, that we’ll do our best to win three points against Villarreal.”