Everything Nikola Krstović did in Lecce now looks even better - Rafaele Paladino is an expert who clearly doesn't have a safe center forward in the starting 11, and the Montenegrin footballer has emerged even stronger from it all.
Confirmation of this is 2026, in which the Atalanta striker "exploded", becoming a better version of himself, an even better goal machine.
Although he played 438 out of a possible 900 minutes in 10 matches at the start of the year, Krstović was involved in eight goals for "La Dea" - six goals and two assists. On average, the Montenegrin "nine" had an impact on goals every 55 minutes.
The last goal against Cremonese showed how powerful Krstović had become with Paladins - a feat reminiscent of Zlatan Ibrahimović's goals and another man of the match award.
"Krstović's golden moment", the title is "Gazete delo Sport".
The games, attitude and behavior of the guy who took his first steps in Zeta also delighted Paladin.
"He played a great game, his character is exceptional," the Atalanta coach told Dazn.
Krstović shares minutes in attack with Gianluca Scamacca, a guy who wants to fight for a place in the Italian team at the World Cup through good games.
"Nikola always had the right attitude, even when he was out of the team and not playing. He always trained with full intensity. He is a positive example and now deserves all these pleasures," added Paladino.
The expert who arrived in Bergamo on November 11th in place of Ivan Jurić continued to speak about the Montenegrin football player in chosen words.
"I like it because it's a driving force for the teammates - all the offensive players work well, they are the first to apply high pressure, as we saw against Cremonese," Paladino pointed out.
Krstović joined Atalanta during the summer, and after an autumn during which both "La Dea" and he were "wanted", he "exploded" at the start of the new year. In Serie A, he has scored seven goals and registered four assists so far, making him the club's top scorer.
This season alone, including the Champions League and Coppa Italia, his output is eight goals and five assists.
Atalanta are slowly returning to the top of Italian football after a poor start, currently sitting in seventh place, seven points behind fourth-placed Juventus. They have also qualified for the semi-finals of the Cup, while they will face Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
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