Paulo Fonseca was very happy with what he saw from his side in the first third of the game against Barcelona last night, but admitted things tailed off in the second half.
Milan ended their preseason tour of the United States with a 2-2 draw against FC Barcelona in Baltimore in what was very much a game of two halves. Luka Jovic and Christian Pulisic scored before Robert Lewandowski’s brace levelled it, and Lorenzo Torriani was the penalty shootout star.
Fonseca spoke to Milan TV after the game and praised his players for the belief they showed during the game and the work they have done on the tour of the USA.
“I am satisfied with my players, they often played with courage. We had a good approach to the match, in the first 20-30 minutes we did several good things. It was a match in which we also had some difficulties, they are strong, but in general I am very satisfied,” he said.
“I saw the intentions of the team and the courage of the players. We must improve, but we have done good things in these three friendlies against strong teams. We want to recover the ball quickly when we lose it. We want to be a team that presses high. You can start to see the team’s high pressure, clearly we have to improve, but it will be one of the things we want to do on the pitch.
“They were very good days [in the USA]. The people and the fans were special to us. Now it’s time to go home, we’ll have two days to spend with our families and then we’ll start preparing for the first official match, although first we have another friendly against Monza.
“We have to start thinking about the debut in the league, we’ll play the first at San Siro, I expect the stadium to be full. We want to build a team that leaves the fans proud. We started well, we have to improve, but in the end I think the fans will always be with us. We want to feel their support from the first day.”