MONTELLA: "THE TOUGHEST MATCH IS AGAINST GENOA"
"Juve are in the past, now we must focus on Genoa". Coach Montella spoke to Milan TV and the rest of the press at Milanello. The manager touched on several topics, starting from the possible squad rotation.
STARTING XI
"Niang is feeling better and so is Donnarumma. Antonelli and Calabria are still out. Zapata? We’ll see, in today’s training I can see who’s fit to play against Genoa and tomorrow I’ll make my final decisions. The initial idea is to change a man per position, but we’ll see if this can be done. Locatelli? He is young and has more energies than others".
GENOA-MILAN
"We all celebrated Saturday night. But now we have to focus only on Genoa. I think that tomorrow’s match will be really tough: we must be determined to win, and we must be at the top physically and psychologically".
ON THE MATCH AGAINST GENOA
"We both arrive to this game having spent the same physical energies, but psychologically it’s different. It’s going to be a really hard match: tactically it’s a complicated game, and also on the psychological aspect. Technically we are stronger than Genoa, and we must use this to our advantage".
PREPARING FOR THE MATCH
"Unfortunately we don’t have much time to train. I will show more videos of Genoa's matches to the boys to keep a high concentration level. The players are young, it’s true, but they have also a lot of International experience, therefore they are aware of how important it is to be physically and psychologically ready for this clash".
GENOA’S COACH
"Juric is a bit like Gasperini. He is carrying on his predecessor’s work and he’s doing a fine job".
SEASON’S OBJECTIVE
"I like being optimistic but we must keep our feet on the ground: Fiorentina and Inter, last season, were in the top positions for a lot of time before finishing the campaign 4th and 5th. There’s still a lot to do, and we are only at the beginning".
ON JUVE
"The win over Juve surely increases our self confidence. I was really pleased with the team’s spirit: we managed to handle the pressure, we defended well and were dangerous upfront".
ENTHUSIASM
"Enthusiasm can result in one or two points more at the end of the season, but too much of it would turn out being harmful. We must keep our balance".
PALETTA AND ROMAGNOLI
"They are doing a really good job, without even just one of them we suffered a lot. They are complementary players. We must praise them but also the rest of the team who are doing well defensively".
NIANG
"The decision to take off Niang was mine, not of the medical staff. He wasn’t 100% fit and I couldn’t risk playing with Juve with an unfit player; but he played a great match".
MIEDFIELD
"Mati and Bertolacci will be back in the fold soon, Pasalic is improving a lot technically and he is adapting to Italian football, therefore I don’t need to think about the transfer market window".
THE YOUNGSTERS
"I think family makes the difference in a youngster’s life. It happens that the success bothers the families more than the players. Our youngsters have really great families and this is surely positive".
THE FANS
"The fans are more enthusiastic and this is surely positive. The fans are really passionate and this really pleases me a lot".
REFEREE
"The referees can make mistakes, sometimes they can be in favour and sometimes against, it’s part of the game. Benatia’s movement influenced Donnarumma’s coming out. I am in favour of technology, but this episode was really hard to judge, either way someone would have been disappointed with the final decision".
BERLUSCONI
"I haven’t spoken to the President. His dream has always been to see AC Milan full of Italian players and I must say he was right".
(Photo LaPresse)
