He patiently waited for the right opportunities with new coach Rafael Paladin, and then, entering 2026, he "grabbed" each one in the right way.
Nikola Krstović continues to score goals in the new year, and his first in the most prestigious competition, the Champions League, came against Athletic Bilbao. The Montenegrin striker scored two goals for Atalanta during the autumn, while he was the scorer four times in January itself.
After the "double" with which he demolished Bologna at "Dal'Ara", Krstović also scored against Pisa, and then checked Unai Simon - the goalkeeper of the European champion Spain.
It was a goal at the end of the match for 3:2, when "La Dea" was chasing an equalizer in a strange game in which they didn't play badly, but allowed the Basques to score easily.
"Yes, there's not much luck with the goal, because we lost important points for us," Krstović told club TV.
He says about the match against the rivals from "San Mames":
"We played great in the first half, only missing a second goal. In the second half, it was perfect for the first ten minutes, we were waiting for the second goal, but we didn't score it. And then we conceded three goals in about fifteen minutes."
What happened?
"It was as if a darkness had descended on our game. Later we managed to reduce it to 3:2, there was still a little time left - we could certainly have made it 3:3, but... It's hard to find the right words," added Atalanta's number 90.
Atalanta secured a place in the knockout phase of the European elite, currently in 13th place with the same number of points, and if they beat Union Saint-Gilloise away in the final round, they could perhaps, with favorable other results, even reach the Top 8.
"It's okay, we have to move on, we have to rise. We still have a chance to finish in the top eight, and on Sunday we have a game against Parma in Serie A. We have to look ahead, to learn lessons, because we learn from defeats, and to try to achieve a good result in the championship," concluded Krstović.
Bonus video:
