Atalanta midfielder Ederson explains how he ‘used experience’ rather than pace to neutralise Bayer Leverkusen star Jeremie Frimpong in the dominant Europa League Final.
Although La Dea were the underdogs, they crushed the Bundesliga champions 3-0 in Dublin on Wednesday night thanks to an Ademola Lookman hat-trick.
They also ran very few risks at the back, with goalkeeper Juan Musso practically undisturbed throughout.
“I am so happy, I also got a call-up for Brazil and now the Europa League, it’s incredible. We had remarkable performances against Liverpool, Marseille, we knew how Bayer Leverkusen were, but we came here with the intention to be aggressive and gave our all,” Ederson told Sky Sport Italia.
“This medal is amazing, it can never be described with words. We have become immortal. We are in the history of Atalanta.”
Frimpong fruitless against Ederson
Ederson seemed to be everywhere on the night, from midfield to attack and defence, and made several crucial blocks on winger Frimpong in full flight.
It was a perfect performance to show how pace is not necessarily the key to keeping a danger man like Frimpong quiet.
“He is very quick, I might not seem that fast, but when I need to… I let him start first so I could see if he was going to run straight or diagonal, then I managed to cut him off. I had to use a bit of experience there.”
Ederson is another of those players who has been vastly improved by working with coach Gian Piero Gasperini in Bergamo.
The midfielder turns 25 in July and was signed from Salernitana in the summer of 2022 for €22.9m.
“The coach told me to be more aggressive, as I had some pace and power, so I needed to use those characteristics more. This season, I got a more used to the high press, so I was able to be more attacking too and added that to my game as well.”
Although he has no senior caps, Ederson has recently been called up for the Brazil squad going towards the 2024 Copa America.