AC Milan will take on Napoli away from home tomorrow, hoping to bounce back after two tough defeats. Head coach Stefano Pioli needs to show his tactical strengths against Rudi Garcia, eight years after the infamous clash between the two.
It’s expected to be an exciting clash at Stadio Diego Maradona on Sunday evening as just four points separate these sides in the standings. Milan, after the losses against Juventus and PSG, will need to bounce back with a strong performance.
For Stefano Pioli, it’s a tactical battle against a former ‘nemesis’, namely Rudi Garcia. To understand the history between the two, as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, we have to go back eight years to the clash between Roma and Lazio.
It was the penultimate round of the season and the game didn’t just decide the supremacy in the capital, but also which team would clinch the last Champions League spot. Roma, who were one point ahead of Lazio before the game, prevailed 2-1 and thus had the luxury of losing the last round.
The brawl started with Garcia stirring things up during his pre-match press conference: “I seem to recall Lazio winning their last game with a goal which shouldn’t have been given after they had cried about their game against Inter. It seems like Roma will need to have 12 players to have any chance of winning, which seems absurd.”
Pioli responded after the game, expressing his disappointment after the tough defeat: “Foreign coaches come here to Italy and you hope that they will bring with them new ideas from a new culture and that we can learn from them, but in the end, they become worse than us Italians. Garcia could have done without branding us crybabies and talking about a game he was not even involved in. It was neither correct nor professional.”
It didn’t end there, however, as the two crossed paths in the press room after the game. “You’re a liar, talking about us being crybabies,” Pioli said as he left the room. “Shut up, you don’t know how to lose, you’re a moron,” Garcia replied.
I kinda have to agree with Garcia’s last statement.
Not really surprising seeing “fans” taking sides with the other team.
There’s a really simple way you can have Garcia as your manager – go support Napoli.
Our coach needs to learn how to loose….despite having lost a lot over al the span of his coaching career… Yet he still argues with Calabria, argues with the press that he doesn’t have to Apologize to the fan after 5consecutive Derby lose…..what a looser and a crybaby
Maybe ‘fans’ need to learn how to lose and stop losing their minds when we’re just 2 points off the top!