EXCLUSIVE TMW – Ousmane Dabo: "City-Atalanta? 1-1. Surprises exist"

"Manchester City-Atalanta can finish 1-1". To say it is Ousmane Dabo, former Citizens and Atalanta midfielder, before the challenge scheduled for tonight at 21. "Last year Lyon won at Etihad, 0-1, in football you never know. at every game ".

You played in the City.
"It was not like today, in my time. It was a normal mid-table team, there was not all this money to have a great team. The City has so many fans, it is said to be the Manchester team, it is the one with the most supporters . United is a more global team ".

Like Juventus and Turin.
"Exactly. The City stadium is always full."

What does Manchester remember?
"A pretty city, which was developing. I haven't been there in a long time, I don't know how it is now, it's beautiful to live. There was already a good structure, the stadium was that: now they have renovated it, before it was to 45 thousand seats. The sports center was already very good ".

If Guardiola does not win the Champions League is failure?
"Yes, it's been there for years now, every time it has been eliminated. They have already won the Premier League, more than once, only the Champions League is missing. The fans expect it because the team plays very well."

But even the PSG …
"Same group, same problem. We need to build the team, everyone hopes they win the Champions League. There are so many teams that have ambitions to win."

Who can be the key players?
"I would say Gomez for Atalanta and de Bruyne for Manchester City".

Are they similar teams?
"Yes, I really like the mentality, they always play openly, very well. Gasperini reminds me of it at Genoa, when I played in Italy: with Lazio we had struggled against Thiago Motta and Milito".

Can Atalanta stay high?
"In my opinion, yes. Very good start to the season, confirming last season, it's a stable team that knows how to plan. The company knows very well who to choose, I don't see why it should have a decline. It can stay high with Lazio, Roma and Milan ".

Do Juventus, Napoli and Inter have something extra?
"Yes, all three of them. As an organic I see them above, even if the others can be annoying."

Have you seen Atalanta-Lazio?
"All right, beautiful game. I'm happy, I enjoyed it. They all played forward."

Gasperini complains of penalties.
"For me there were both: on the first Palomino he steps on his foot, then the referee can whistle or not, but it is not scandalous. On the second Immobile he is good at passing ahead of De Roon, who extends it. because he won 3-0, that yes ".

What does Dabo do now?
"I have a soccer school in Senegal, my mother is French, my Senegalese father. I go back and forth."

Do you have players in Europe?
"Not yet, but surely in the near future. I will help them become professionals."

In Italy there is an emergency racism.
"There was already, I remember having it several times right away. I'm so sorry because it gives Italy a very ugly image".

Where did it happen to you?
"In Cagliari, in Verona. The Italians are not racists, for the few they all pass. Sometimes it was more masked, but I felt it".

Who does it says it is to de-concentrate.
"If one compares you to a monkey, what is it, to de-concentrate? It's racism, it's something built over the years, you have to know the history. There was the black code, once, to say that black was inferior to white. There's a story behind it, you don't say a thing at all. Then you can whistle the players, like everyone else, white or black. Why make a difference? ".

To hurt people.
"I understand even less: I have a white mother, a black father, I don't conceive these things. In France, very little happens, but it has a long history, there were colonies. Now there are so many colored boys who live here, in Paris . People are tolerant. "