Bellingham, MVP of the Uefa Super Cup final: "I feel comfortable in any position as long as I can help my team"
"I hope to give Mbappé more assists during the rest of the season,” said the English midfielder.
Jude Bellingham was named MVP of the Uefa Super Cup final. The Englishmen was on the pitch for 88 minutes, and his sublime second-half display saw him set up Mbappé to make it 2-0 and seal the victory: “I don't care where I play. I wasn't a forward last year either. Today I moved a bit to the left, but football flows. I feel comfortable in any position as long as I can help my team. It's easier to score goals if I play closer to goal, but maybe I'll have to adapt this season. I'm fine with that, I just want to do well.”
“The support from the fans has been fantastic. From the airport to the hotel. It's always nice to go out and play in front of another crowd that doesn't always get the chance to see you. I like to leave them a memory of a match they enjoyed watching. I appreciate everyone coming to see us. I hope they go away happy.”
Mbappé
“He's unbelievable. I thought he was incredible before, but now that I can play with him, I can appreciate his details, his speed, his quality and how hard he works. He's a leader on the pitch. There had been a lot of talk for a long time about him coming here, so it feels like he's been with us even longer. It's a fantastic dressing room and we're going to make him feel welcome as we've done with everyone else.”
On his shoulder injury
“I feel great. I worked a lot during the pre-season. The protection I was wearing was a precaution, towards the end of the season it was bothering me so wearing it helped me. I have to have faith in the work I'm doing with Pintus and the rest of the coaching staff and the fitness trainers. They're top professionals. Anything can happen in football and we'll talk about that with the club. For now, I want to focus on playing football to the best of my ability.”
Atalanta
“We had already seen them play in the Europa League several times. They're a team that makes it very difficult for you. They move around and they rotate a lot. They disrupted us in the first half. I really admire the work their coach has done with the U21s. It's been a tough week of preparation because we knew they were going to come out with a lot of intensity and individual pressure. In the second half, the game opened up and we managed to dominate. It's a great honour to beat a team as good as the one we played today.”
Did he hope to set up Mbappé?
“Of course, I hoped to. He's a player who can write his own history. He always does well for his teams and once again he did that today. It was great to be involved in his first goal and I hope to give him more than one assist during the rest of the season.”