U16s: the road to the final in the words of Capt. Alessandro Rinaldi

"Having reached this final is a source of utmost pride and satisfaction in and of itself: now we'll stop at nothing to make this dream come true". Atalanta U16s captain Alessandro Rinaldi held the floor in the lead-in to Saturday's Under 16 Serie A e B league's Final. Bergamasco born and bred native of Ponte San Pietro, Alessandro has been donning the black-and-blue shirt since he was ten and, together with his twin brother Michele, embodies the spirit of the team to the fullest: "Our strength and  our success lies in the unity and selflessness of the team. We're very tight-knit and not just as a team but also with our staffing as well. If I were to put my finger on something, I'd say that these were the X Factors which brought us this far".

"The way I see it- Alessandro goes on - my sixth season here is sort of a watershed for me: being native of Bergamo, playing for your hometown's team is an indescribable feeling. Donning the captain's armband is a further badge of honour and a great responsibility as well: which spurs me to raise the bar higher and set my sights on the first team's players, especially on those who have been defending this crest for years on end. Taking them as examples, I try my best to convey a sense of belonging and that determination so eponymous with Bergamo and its people".

Sharing the pitch with his brother, who unlike Alessandro plays in the midfield, the black-and-blue centreback, has left his mark on one of the two main turning points of the Final Phase, finding his scoring ways in the away wins at Roma and Inter. "We never stopped believing in it, despite the initial highs and lows. Nothing that some hard work in training with our staff couldn't fix: we dusted ourselves off and now we're taking great satisfactions. If you ask me, the main stepping stone was our setback at Cagliari back in December: from that moment on something just snapped and we kept on improving one game at the time up until this final. These last games were a true shot in the arm, with the comeback away win over Roma in the quarterfinals' 2nd leg taking the crown. We'll be facing Milan in the final, an undoubtedly strong team we got to know very well having played them twice this season. While we lost the reverse game, we came back to win the return fixture: it will be a balanced and hard-fought contest. But, as I said, we'll pull out all stops to bring it home".