Nicola Beati: "We're Making Good Progress, with much room for growth"

Following the friendly against Juventus Next Gen, Nicola Beati reflected on Atalanta U23's 2026/27 pre-season: "I'm pleased with the training camp and with the group of players I've found. Right from the start, I saw a strong work ethic, which is a fundamental aspect. I've had the chance to get to know many of the players and I've found that mentality in all of them. That's a clear sign of a club that works well, and it makes our job much easier. We're beginning to put my ideas into practice. There's still plenty of room for improvement, but I'm happy with the progress we're making."

"The change of system is certainly exciting because we're introducing something the environment isn't used to seeing," the coach continued. "We're following the direction set by the First Team, and I like that. In the end, it's all about principles and ideas, because football is still football. Right now, we want to place even greater emphasis on possession and on the way we play, but I also like my teams to dictate the game from the defensive phase. Not necessarily through man-to-man marking, but by imposing our principles even when we don't have the ball."

"It's a great source of pride to be in charge of such an important team. This is my first experience as a head coach, but I've been involved in football since I was a child, so being in this role feels quite natural to me."

He concluded: "Today's objective was to play two friendlies to give as many minutes as possible to all the players and prepare as well as we could for the official fixtures that are just around the corner. Today's focus was on these two friendlies, and we achieved the objectives we had set ourselves. From Monday our attention will turn entirely to Cittadella, who are a strong and experienced side. The intensity will probably be higher, so I'm expecting a tough and demanding match. Hopefully we'll arrive in the best possible shape and put in a good performance."