Davide Calabria has insisted that AC Milan ‘can’t wait’ to get their Champions League campaign underway, but acknowledged that a tough first game beckons.
Milan will kick off the group stages with a trip to face Red Bull Salzburg who by now know the competition well, and head coach Stefano Pioli has already heaped praise on them for the brand of football that they continue to play.
Calabria spoke to Milan TV ahead of the game to give his thoughts on the clash in Austria, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“We are happy to participate in the Champions League. We can’t wait,” he said.
On last year: “I think ours was one of the most difficult groups in the entire history of the Champions League. It has left us a lot of experience, there have been games that have allowed us to grow. The pace is higher, we needed that experience a lot.”
On the fixture list: “We have to be good at management. You play so many games that you practically don’t train anymore. We are used to this, football is now this. It will always be important to recover quickly because it will be a complicated and difficult season. There will be more complicated moments, we will have to be good at managing them in the best possible way.”
On the derby: “It was a good match, we deserved to win. We are happy, but we have already put it aside. What we wanted to do, that is to win, we did, but now we are focused on the match against Salzburg.”
On Salzburg: “They are a very young team, but they have already played this competition. They are doing well in the league, they are well prepared and trained. The usual Champions League match will be waiting for us, so at a high pace. They will press a lot, but we will we have prepared the right counter-moves. We want to start our path in the Champions League well.”
