Atalanta, Gianluca Scamacca: “I always tell my teammates to take me to the Champions League.”

Gianluca Scamacca, Atalanta’s Italian striker, is going through the toughest time of his career. Injured for months, the Atalanta striker has been following his teammates from afar, with his eyes and heart turned to the field but his body still forced to recover. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, the striker spoke unfiltered about the weight of a long and painful absence.

“Already since August I started to suffer,” Scamacca explained, “I felt all the matches that Atalanta had to play this year were mine: the European Super Cup, the Italian Super Cup, the Champions League. But the worst moment? The night of the game against Real Madrid: watching it from the couch was a heartbreak.”

In spite of the difficulties, Scamacca does not let it get him down: “Going to the stadium and hearing the fans ask me when I was going to come back did me good. I’m not afraid to come back: if you come back with the fear of injury, you only lose time. I want to come back better than before, even if it will take an extra month.”

His return is scheduled for mid-July, when the new season will begin to take shape. Champions is a goal, and Scamacca has a clear message for his teammates: “Take me to Champions. I say it every day. If I could push them on the field… I am confident: they are having a great season despite the difficulties, and I am convinced they will please me.”

Finally, words of respect for teammate Retegui: “He is strong. Two forwards in the squad are never too many, and at Atalanta you can do everything, it depends on what Gasperini will come up with.”

Scamacca, stationary in the pits, but with his heart already set on the future.