\n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n Our no.5 arrived at Leverkusen as a 19-year-old prospect, and rose through the ranks to become a regular starter in their invincible title-winning team. <\/p>\n But the confidence he\u2019s displayed in his performances for both clubs is something Piero had to work hard to build. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I arrived in Leverkusen, I only spoke Spanish. Because of that, I was initially too shy to ask the physio for treatment. <\/p>\n \u201cNow I laugh about it. That\u2019s just one example of how much I\u2019ve grown in Leverkusen, both as a footballer and as a person. <\/p>\n \u201cI’m very grateful to the club for allowing me to develop so well there and leave a lasting mark with the double in 2023\/2024.\u201d <\/p>\n \n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n Having tasted success with Leverkusen, Piero is keen to replicate that as a Gunner. <\/p>\n Asked what we can learn from that double-winning side he was part of in 2024, Piero insisted that we\u2019re heading in the right direction to secure major titles. <\/p>\n \u201cArsenal already have the most important thing: everyone here is incredibly hungry for titles. So we\u2019re really all pulling in the same direction. <\/p>\n \u201cThe coaching staff\u2019s plans are working out really well so far. It has to stay that way until the very last second, then we\u2019ll have something to celebrate at the end of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to win every title, but the road is still long, the competition is fierce, and you always need a bit of luck. But we absolutely need a major title – no matter what.\u201d <\/p>\n Piero is also in the unique position of having been coached by both Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso, with the latter in charge of Leverkusen during that famous 2023\/2024 season. <\/p>\n Alonso came into a Leverkusen team which had never won the Bundesliga title, and then coached his side to an unbeaten success. <\/p>\n \n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n \u201cXabi changed the team\u2019s mentality,\u201d Piero said of his former manager, \u201cduring the double-winning season, every single player truly wanted to win every game. <\/p>\n \u201cEven when we were behind, we always believed we could win. Do you remember how many league games we won in stoppage time? That wasn\u2019t a coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Having tasted success under Alonso, Piero is hoping to replicate that with us under Mikel. <\/p>\n The two managers grew up as childhood friends, something our defender says was clear to see as soon as he joined us in the summer. <\/p>\n \u201cYou can tell. Their playing philosophies are different, but in terms of character, the two are quite similar. <\/p>\n \u201cThey both have this incredibly strong passion for winning football matches. You can feel it in the intensity of every training session and in every conversation. That\u2019s what makes them special.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A return to Champions League action with a last 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen is an exciting point in our season for everyone in our squad. But for Piero Hincapie, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Piero Hincapie: Energy intensive <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n Piero Hincapie: His story so far <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n Preview: Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n Every word from Arteta’s pre-Leverkusen presser <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n