Spalletti: Lobotka played like Iniesta; Kim is similar to Koulibaly

In the summer, they lost

Dries Mertens

, Lorenzo Insigne, and

, but their new players, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim, did a good job today.

"We need time, and we showed in some ways that we are still young, even though we won the game pretty easily in the end,"

Luciano Spalletti

said to DAZN. "Kvaratskhelia was sometimes too naive, but he is a well-rounded player with essential skills. He scored a great goal with a header, which is not his best skill. He can do even better.

"Kim was flawless and royal. There were times when he was like Koulibaly. I was sure we would do well because I could tell that every player was interested and ready to do their best. Sometimes we have to be naughtier and speed up the beat, but the boys deserve the credit."

After a bad season in 2021-22, Piotr Zielinski was looking to make up for it at the Stadio Bentegodi, where he scored a goal. "His runs into open spaces were perfect, and I don't remember ever seeing him lose the ball. He scored a great goal," said Spalletti.

"He is the first to be upset about last season, but he had already shown that this season would have been different."

scored his first goal of the season, which impressed Spalletti so much that he compared his midfielder to

Andres Iniesta

. The coach said, "He [Lobotka] looked like Iniesta today and played a great game."

"He lets the team play in wide-open spaces. We know how much our fans love us, so they know we feel the same way. No one will ever take things here for granted, that's for sure." In the second game of the season,

will play Monza at the Stadio Maradona. Their third game is on August 28 at Fiorentina, an away game.

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