Bologna, 8 February 2026 -Carlos Cuesta, spoke at the end of the win over Bologna.

“It was a match with many different phases, and I’m truly happy with the team’s maturity. It wasn’t easy to react after two heavy defeats that came about in that way. Knowing how to manage the moments, the flow of our play wasn’t what we’d like it to be, especially when we were a man up. But at the same time, the heart and the ability of these lads to overcome difficulties is extraordinary. We know the road is long, we know there’s still a lot of work to do, and we have a hugely important match coming up in front of our fans. But today is also a day to enjoy this moment. The attack? I’m convinced we’ll do more. The goal came from Strefezza carrying the ball, drawing the opponent down, then there’s a move with Nicolussi, and after that he combines with Ordoñez to finish the move. This ability to manage moments and move the ball around is something we’ll inevitably develop. Even without many training days, the new players are already making an impact, adding quality to what we already had in the squad. Troilo? I wasn’t able to analyse it properly on the pitch, it seemed a bit surprising to me. But everyone makes their own assessments and judgements. It surprises me, but it’s not for me to judge other people’s decisions—I focus on my own work. Corvi? We’re fortunate to have a squad full of capable players. He wasn’t playing at the start because Zion was there, but he was ready when called upon, just like all our goalkeepers. The goal comes from three players who came on during the match—the impact was huge. Even seeing the way the goal was celebrated shows how special this team is: it has incredible heart, unity and togetherness, which must be our greatest strength. And hard work pays off, as we’re seeing with Edo. It was a match that demanded a great deal of maturity, in a very intense environment. I take away many positive things. We fought until the very end. We know we have to manage games with maturity and concentration, always keeping the past in mind. Even with a numerical advantage we didn’t manage to be as fluid or create as many chances as we’d like, but we knew we had to keep the game under control and manage the spaces. In the end we got the result, and I’m proud of the heart these lads showed and of their ability to deal with every situation.”