Loaned by OM and compared last Monday by his AS Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini to the legend Franco Baresi, Leonardo Balerdi returned to this flattering outing from his coach. “I was happy (with this comparison). But there is only one Baresi. He has achieved something extraordinary in football. I have to stay humble, keep working. This motivates me. But I must stay calm and continue on my way. I have only just arrived, with a match and a half played. We must continue to play”declared the Argentinian in an interview given Friday to DAZN.
Relaunched on his end of adventure at OM, Balerdi added: “a difficult time. I didn’t want to end there, during the last match at the Vélodrome. I take everything I experienced in Marseille: the good things and the bad things. This will give me strength and help me in the future. I don’t remember the fact of having been whistled. I also remember the love that was given to me during my six years at the club. This is the most important. I don’t know if it’s fair or unfair. It’s love and hate, as they say in Spanish. Sometimes a lot of people liked me. Sometimes a lot of people hated me. I took love and this hatred as motivation, as energy”.
