Baresi believes Milan are ‘ready to go far’ but warns that Conte ‘knows Serie A well’

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan’s honorary vice president Franco Baresi has admitted that Antonio Conte knowing the team so well could provide a complication when the Rossoneri meet Spurs in the Champions League last 16.

It was confirmed in today’s draw in Nyon, Switzerland, that Milan will face off against Spurs in the knockout stages of the competition, which will be the Diavolo’s first venture into the last 16 since the 2013-14 season.

Baresi was present for the draw and he spoke to Sky Italia to react to the draw, which sees Antonio Conte come up against Stefano Pioli again after their intriguing duels in the derby.

“We’ll prepare at our best, our target was to qualify for the Round of 16 and we are ready to surprise again. I think the team is ready to go far. Tottenham are a strong team, Conte knows Italian football and Serie A well. We must be ambitious and think big, we must be optimistic,” Baresi said (via FI).

“Conte is focused on everything but I am convinced Milan will be up to the task. We’ll play in February so it is important to see how we feel. I think we are mature for these games. Last season’s experience was useful and made us understand what it means to play in the Champions League. We are convinced we can play on par with everyone.

“Milan have already raised the bar, we are doing having performances. Every player is improving. We have very strong midfield, fearless defenders and we always create something up front thanks to the coach who offers attacking football. We have created enthusiasm and I am sure San Siro will help us. We’ll be ready.”

The last time that the two sides met in the competition was back in the 2010-11 season when the London club actually went through. Peter Crouch got the only goal of the tie as Spurs won 1-0 at San Siro in a feisty encounter, with the return game being a frustrating 0-0.

Tags AC Milan Franco Baresi Milan Spurs

3 Comments

  1. i personally think we have a great chance to win over the two matches i really do…We must keep believing and assuming Olivier Giroud remains injury free after the World Cup ,then we have that man to score against any team in the world ..so yes we can be in the
    last eight of the competition..We have one of the most exciting teams around at the moment ..keep dreaming and keep believing ,Olivier Giroud always does ..All fans remain optimistic as against the odds last season we won the scuddeto ,and yes again Olivier was part of the reason why .Just look at the quality players we have Theao henadaz ,tonali ,tomori
    Rafael leao ,bennacer etc etc ..We are still in the scuddeto race ..

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