Paulo Fonseca praised the work that he has seen from his AC Milan team out in the United States, and stressed that the objective for the season is to win the Scudetto.
Milan closed out their 2024 Soccer Champions Tour campaign with another victory and this time via a penalty shootout against Barcelona at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, making it three wins out of three.
The Rossoneri were two up fairly early on after goals from Luka Jovic and Christian Pulisic, but Robert Lewandowski responded quickly and got another goal in the second half to draw Barca level and the Catalan side were dominant in the second half.
Having finished 2-2 after 90 minutes the game went to penalties, and Lorenzo Torriani was the hero making two saves in a 4-3 shootout win, after having made a number of decisive interventions during the game as well.
Fonseca did a post-match press conference after the game in Maryland which rounded off the USA tour in the best way, and La Gazzetta dello Sport transcribed some of his responses.
How do you feel the USA tour went?
“I am very satisfied with the players, with the courage they show, with how they play. All the players. We already see clear intentions, after four weeks it is not easy. The boys have been fantastic in these weeks. We have a lot to improve but we are taking the right steps. The tour was very very positive, the feelings are very good.”
You used Pulisic as a No.10…
“Pulisic had a fantastic match for me. I really like seeing him in this position with great participation. What does he bring to Milan? He had a great first season, he will continue to be very important, I have no doubts.
“He played as a 10 in the first half. In the second half we played without strikers, with Pulisic and Loftus-Cheek as two number 10s. Christian can play anywhere in attack, he is very, very intelligent.
“I liked seeing him there and Saelemaekers as a full-back, today we started with a different structure in build-up, more attacking.”
Torriani was the shootout hero…
“I can only say great things about him, I have no words for him. Sportiello got hurt in the hotel, Torriani played with great personality and courage. It’s too early but I have no doubt that we have a goalkeeper for the future . This goalkeeper will have a great future.”
What is your objective for the season?
“To win the Scudetto.”