Giovanni Leoni has spoken candidly about his ACL injury, saying “the hardest part is over” after the ‘worst pain of his life’.For 80 brief minutes, Leoni looked to be the answer to Liverpool’s centre-half woes on the right side of the defence.However, towards the end of his debut on September 23, an ACL injury struck, leaving him out for the rest of the season.Now, talking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the 19-year-old has issued a positive update on his recovery.When asked how he is doing and if his knee is still sore, Leoni said: “No, now the hardest part is over.“I’m doing rehab, swimming and the gym. For a footballer, an injury like this can be the hardest moment of their career, but now I just want to train my mind to come back stronger than before.“I think that’s the key: the mind can do most of the work.”Back in 2020, Virgil van Dijk suffered a similar injury due to a late challenge from Jordan Pickford, so the Dutchman has been able to give his junior some advice.“Virgil, he has the charisma of a captain. After the injury, he called me right away. I had the same surgeon as him, and now we’re talking,” Leoni explained.The Italy manager, Gennaro Gattuso, was another to offer his support after the injury Leoni described as “a great, intense pain, the strongest I’ve ever felt in my life.”Gattuso gave the young defender his first Italy senior call-up at the start of the season and called after the injury, to tell Leoni what he had been through himself with the same injury during his career.Among the things Leoni has learned is that his recovery is as much mental as physical, something his mental coach has helped with.The Italian revealed: “For two years I’ve been working once a week with a mental coach, Cristian Viola. Every Thursday I go to him or we talk on the phone.“We visualise the goal, work on breathing and mental focus for the match.“I’ve learned that those who constantly breathe through their mouth during a match can waste energy. Breathing through their nose and exhaling through their mouth helps them be more alert at the end.”While we won’t see Leoni again this campaign, he is clearly taking all the right steps and has the necessary support around him to come back stronger and more resilient.