It will be a strange night for Daniel Maldini as he returns to face his beloved AC Milan with Spezia having spent most of his life with the Rossoneri.
Daniel Maldini got more opportunities with the first team during the 2021-22 Scudetto win, however he struggled to get consistent playing time and for that reason the decision was made to loan him out to Spezia so he can continue his development.
The playmaker gave an interview with SportWeek during which he spoke about the emotions of returning to face hiss parent club, and he was asked what role Milan boss Stefano Pioli has had in his development to date.
“Pioli helped me to stay calm, he was always very helpful. He explained me how to move on the pitch,” he said (via MilanNews).
As mentioned, last season culminated with the Rossoneri winning their first league title in 11 years and it was a real squad effort as they overcame various injury crisis and refereeing howlers.
“Last year some of us started talking about the Scudetto, the others said ‘no, no’, but we could see that in our hearts we all believed in it. Then when you win against the other great teams you understand that believing can be good for you, but not always. That was a great group. You don’t win the Scudetto if you don’t create a united group,” Maldini said.
Maldini also spoke about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who several players have described as being like a big brother because of the influence he has.
“He makes you go further even if you don’t notice. Ibra urges you with insults, but you don’t take it personally because you know he does it for a good purpose. Then he finishes training and recovers, he comes up to you and hugs you. Of course when he arrived nobody wanted to play training matches in his team, ‘Let’s hope it’s not my turn today’ we told ourselves.”
