Tribal Football

Atalanta ace Koopmeiners dismisses exit talk: I'm only thinking of Real Madrid

Atalanta ace Koopmeiners dismisses exit talk: I'm only thinking of Real Madrid
Atalanta ace Koopmeiners dismisses exit talk: I'm only thinking of Real MadridAction Plus
Atalanta midfielder Teun Koopmeiners says his priority is their looming UEFA Super Cup clash with Real Madrid.

Koopmeiners has been linked with Juventus this summer, but he insists his focus is on Real.

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He said, "We've been thinking about it since the evening of Real-Borussia Dortmund. We know it's tough, but it was also tough against Bayer Leverkusen: Real is still one more level, but a final is played to win it, always. And we will play it knowing that we deserved it in Dublin, and that anything can happen in a single match.

"Starting again from Dublin? Yes and no: that victory made us understand that we are capable of great things, but the past told us that our strength has always been humility: that has always lit the right fire in us to repeat ourselves. Expectations are inevitable, but there are clubs that have more than us. The real goal is to try to go beyond what we did last year: it's tough, but we'll try. Starting with the Coppa Italia: we still have to win that one.

"Are we the anti-Inter? Last season we finished fourth, 25 points behind Inter, we never played for the Scudetto: now should we do it because we won the Europa League? We're thinking about still being among the top teams and making the best possible journey in the Champions League."