Ruben Amorim has explained the changes he made to the team to face Venezia, and discussed the imminent sale of Rafael Leao.
The challenge for Milan tonight in front of a newly-promoted Venezia side is to build on the positive aspects from their win over Torino in game one. The hope for Ruben Amorim is that they can also fix some of the limitations that emerged, especially late on when energy ran low.
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Although they may have lost their first match 2-0 at home against Lecce, the stats suggest that Venezia deserved more as they dominated the game overall. They will pose a threat on the counter and will defend with a back five, so this promises to be a tough battle.
Amorim spoke to DAZN not long before kick-off in his San Siro debut and he looked ahead to the task at hand, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
What a thrill it is to be at San Siro tonight…
“It’s a special day. As a coach, I’m focused on the match. We have to win. I expect a tough match. The team is nervous, they want to do well, and for it to be a positive day, we have to win.”
Did you choose to play Bartesaghi and Modric to gain control of the match?
“Modric has the experience to instil calmness in us, but the experience he brings is very important. He played 30 quality minutes against Torino. Bartesaghi is for one-on-one situations, and he has the physicality to do it.
“The most important thing is the quality of the entire team. We have to run after the ball, be humble, and understand that we can’t press for the entire match.”
Was the decision to sell Leao a shared one?
“I believe that if you’re in this team, you always have to give 100%. If the team grows, so does the individual. To achieve results, the group is important. And therefore, individuality is also valued.”
IN: CB, CAM, Zalewski
OUT: Fofana, Tomori, Bondo, Terracciano, Gimenez, Estupinan
I really wanna see us try Alexis on LWB and Moreira on RWB… Belgium duo might be clinical.
Salad with 2 assists today. He is doing well where Amorim placed him. And his pressing will be useful there when called upon.
Moreira is actually situated on the left flank. Sure try him in the LWB position but there is no point switching flanks between him and Salads (who is naturally position in the right flank).