Marten de Roon jokes he was ‘surprised’ to be in a scoring position against Ajax, but Atalanta ‘are a great team’ if they achieved qualification despite the locker room tension.
La Dea needed a point in Amsterdam to qualify for the Champions League Round of 16, but won 1-0 thanks to a late Luis Muriel goal for an emphatic result.
Marten de Roon jokes he was ‘surprised’ to be in a scoring position against Ajax, but Atalanta ‘are a great team’ if they achieved qualification despite the locker room tension.
La Dea needed a point in Amsterdam to qualify for the Champions League Round of 16, but won 1-0 thanks to a late Luis Muriel goal for an emphatic result.
“Perhaps we didn’t put in the best performance, but we did very well in defence and allowed Ajax hardly any opportunities. We are very happy with our qualification,” De Roon told Sky Sport Italia.
“We usually play a lot more open, leaving spaces in defence, but we changed our approach today and defend a bit better. We are more solid this way, concede fewer goals, and above in Europe that allows us to survive.”
De Roon had the best chance of the first half for Atalanta, but fired off target from the edge of the area.
“I was frankly a little surprised that I got into that position! Duvan Zapata gave me a great pass, I didn’t hit it very well. Maybe I should push forward more, but my job is to keep the balance so Robin Gosens and Hans Hateboer can attack.
“I would like to score more goals, but as long as we keep getting results, I really don’t mind.”
The build-up to this match was dominated by tension and reports of a massive dressing room row between Gian Piero Gasperini, Papu Gomez and Josip Ilicic.
However, there seemed to be no problems during the hugs at the final whistle in Amsterdam.
“We are a team. After a result like this, which happened after everything that was in the papers, that means we are a great team,” noted De Roon.