Atalanta are ready for the game at the Red Bull Arena, which is the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. The squad are in Leipzig. The wingback Hans Hateboer spoke in our usual pre-match interview: “We feel like playing these kinds of games”. Here’s the exclusive one-to-one interview.

Hans Hateboer, this is the match against Leipzig, the first leg of the quarter-finals. Is everything ready at Atalanta?

“Yes, everything’s ready. We’re hungry. We’re eager to play these kinds of matches. We’re in the quarter-finals. I think it will be a good match tomorrow”.

Hans, you’ve already put aside Sunday’s match against Napoli and moved on, have you?

“Yes, of course. We always must look forward. We don’t have much time to think, to feel disappointed because there’s another match tomorrow. It’s a different competition. There’s a different style of play. We’re ready. We want to get a result here”.

Atalanta are a team with attacking principles. No less are Leipzig. What will the match be like?

“I don’t know. I hope it will be a good match. We’ve seen that they’ve been doing well over the last few years. They always play upfront. They have many players who feel like attacking, like us. Let’s hope it will be like this tomorrow as well. Let’s hope it will be a good match”.

You were meant to meet each other, as in Lisbon, in the Champions League, if Atalanta had won over PSG, you would have met Leipzig.

“Yes, we would have played against them then. It’s a pity we weren’t able to do that. We’re finally playing against them here. We’ll see tomorrow”.