Juan Jesus: Hard work always pays off

Jesus was given the nod in central defence by coach Eusebio Di Francesco, and repaid the faith of the new boss with an eye-catching display.

"I am proof that hard work always pays off," the Brazilian said. "I put in a lot of effort during the off-season and pre-season and I believe I’ve shown I’m ready to help Roma."

You get on really well with Alisson off the pitch. Can this help your performances on the pitch too?

"I’ve been in many changing rooms throughout my career and I can tell you this is a great group, in which everyone has got each other’s back. Alisson and I are closer because we’ve known each other since we were 14 or 15, so it’s normal that we understand each other better. But once again: this is a fantastic group and we’re all helping each other. If someone is having problems, we take him under arm and give him a hand."

Today you were the stand-out player in a team that was able to withstand the pressure. Is this Roma’s best quality at the moment?

"We must always understand the type of contest we have in front of us. In other words, we must be switched on enough to know whether we need to soak up the pressure or whether we should be playing and forcing the issue. Today we did well at the former and thus took home the three points."

You played Atalanta offside six times in today’s match.

"It was a difficult game today. Before we kicked off, I was studying the opposition’s forwards, so I knew what [Andrea] Petagna likes to do and I was always one step ahead of him. I did pretty well against Papu Gomez as well and he’s a lot to handle. It wasn’t easy. We were able to play the offside trap on Atalanta’s forwards so frequently because we kept it narrow. We kept stepping up the pitch because if we’re focused and do it properly, we can create problems for the opposing striker who has to keep coming back and therefore gets caught offside."