Yesterday, one of the legionnaires joined the blue-and-yellow team, namely — Ruslan Malinovskiy. The half-back defender spoke about his readiness for matches with the Ukraine national team and evaluated the season's results for "Atalanta."

"I arrived in a great mood because the team hasn't gathered in a long time. This difficult moment everyone understands how important it is to prepare well and represent Ukraine on the international stage. Of course, we will try to qualify for the World Cup.

We had a tough season at "Atalanta" because there was COVID, injuries to key players, many newbies joined at the start of the season. It wasn't easy to show the football that Atalanta played. We participated in the Champions League for three consecutive years, but after winter we lost a lot of points and ended up not as brightly as we wanted. But the coach said that we always gave our best, but unfortunately there was bad luck with referees who canceled goals and fouls. However, now the club season is over, the boys are on vacation, so all my thoughts are only about the national team.

I didn't prepare for Atalanta's last game, but I did some specific work: one part — with the team, another part — in the gym. For the past week, I've been preparing to join the national team. There are no fatigue issues, there are no problems like those that arose before Euro-2020. I feel good. We need to work hard so as to be in top shape for the match against Scotland," — said Malinovskiy.

As a reminder, the 1/2 final playoff match of the World Cup-2022 qualifier between the national teams of Scotland and Ukraine will take place on June 1 in Glasgow at Hampden Park stadium.