AC Milan director Ricky Massara is looking forward to an ‘unprecedented’ two legs against Napoli in what will be a ‘very difficult’ tie.
The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals took place at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, with no restrictions on who could face who. That meant there was the possibility of drawing a fellow Serie A side, and that is what ended up happening as the Rossoneri got the Partenopei.
Massara spoke to Milan TV directly after the draw to reflect on what will be a very tense few days in Italy, with his comments relayed by our colleagues at SempreMilan.it.
“The quarter-finals are all high-level matches against strong teams. We are in the best eight in Europe. It will be an unprecedented and very difficult challenge against a very strong Napoli. It will be a very stimulating challenge that we will face with confidence,” he said.
“We’ll need top-level performances. Three matches in twenty days won’t help, if anything, it will complicate the match for both of us. We’re taking it on with courage and with the hope of playing some great matches. They’ll be spectacular matches, Milan and Napoli have shown that they build a beautiful game.”
Ignazio Abate’s Primavera side made history on Tuesday as they reached the final four of the youth version of the Champions League for the first time in their history thanks to a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
“It’s a great pride, this certifies the excellent work of the youth sector. The result is something special, we are happy with the work of the team and of coach Abate. We are proud to be the only formation with the first team in the quarterfinals and Primavera in the semifinals of the Youth League. It’s a winning combination, we hope to continue.”
but milan fans here think Napoli was the easiest tie because logic
dude chill, management just wanna stave off the extra pressure on the team from the media
dude chill, just admit you love to underestimate Napoli and overestimate overhyped EPL teams
Deffently not the easiest one but if we look at our last match against them and recent years we have generally been playing bettter than them when we met. In the last match against them we lost 1-2 when we actually should have won with several goals as we hit the post several times and it was plain bad luck we didnt win that match.
Considering we could have met real madrid, man city, bayern or chelsea who if in form will be deadly then meeting napoli isnt too bad. I would have preferred benfica or inter but if we progress from this fixture we will meet either inter or benfica so this has paved a somewhat easier road to a potential final regardless whether you agree or not. Obviously we can lose as well but there are opportunities here while some of the on paper stronger squads can battle it out with eachother.
same logic applies against Bayern and Man City but you all automatically assume a loss against them, then whats the point of winning this match since eventually we’ll face Bayern/RM/City in the final
Im not assuming anything fact is that real madrid, city, bayern and chelsea has far better squads and depths than any of the 3 i mentioned.
Would any fixture be difficult ? sure, but you cant compare those squads with the other 4, We also know napoli and inter very well. Losing in a semi final against benfica or inter would still gain the club more much needed cash compared to for example getting trashed by city or madrid in a qarter final. Same applies in a final against one of the wealthy clubs.
and Napoli can also easily thrash this team or have you been living under a rock this year?
also did you really just mention Chelsea in the same level as City and Bayern, the team that is TENTH in the league and won 4 out of their last 17 games?
Wtf is this
Well as i said they can win as well and napoli has deffently been impressive this season but you are clearly just arguing for the sake of it as i said chelsea can be deadly if in form further up.
he fact that napoli is so much ahead is also partially because the other italian teams hasnt performed too well eiither and serie a isnt cl so the standing doesnt matter in that equation.
You do realize that by qualifying for the quarter finasl we will get at minimum 20 mil more so do i really need to explain to you even if we progress to another round its better financially to reach another round and lose than getting thrown out in the quarters, Might actually help us improve the squad as wel will have more transfer funds available next season but sure wouldnt it have been nice to draw city and more likely getting thrown out and miss out of potential cash.
still doesnt answer my question of you thinknig Chelsea is on the same level as BAYERN or CITY or even NAPOLI
Not currently but thats where form might play in and im sure you do realize things can quickly change in football and chelsea might regain its form and has a better squad than the neapolitanians.
Anyways havent said milan is guaranteed to qualify for next round but i deffently prefer one of the 3 compared to one of the other four. By the way ive always respected napoli as a team and it wont be easy but it could propably have been a far worse draw considering who we could have ended up against.
@Boulden
Just a reminder that we lose home and away against Chelsea in group stage, 0-5 aggregate.
Martin clearly isn’t being pessimistic or anything here, why do you get personal?
Thanks AR i believe boulden felt i was overly optimistic but i agree we certainly haven’t had a great track record recently with chelsea and on the other hand its the opposite with napoli in most games we played against them.
the way some people online respect a fail club as Chelsea its funny, they’ve done nothing, the losses against them were just us mentally getting lost and having weird decisions against us, nothing to do with their sporting ability, if they were a good team they wouldnt be TENTH
You are seriously talking out of your rearend because only twice has respect been phrased in this comment section. once where i mentioned i allways have had respect for napoli and now your comment complaining about people online respect for a fail club. A fail club that won the cl twice whereas napoli never has won squat in europe.
Either you are a troll or a napoli fan or some digruntled english football fan that detests chelsea for a good word.
You simply cant argue that napoli has a better squad than chelsea and regardless of my disliking of chelsea its a fact that chelsea has better depth than the italians. Even though transfermarkt isnt an exact science then napolis squad has a valuation of 543 mil and chelsea has a valuation of 1.02billion.
If napoli ends up having kavarashkeila and oshimen injured then they will find themselves in trouble whereas chelsea can just take a pick amongst several other players. I did agree though that napoli currently is in a better form but things can quickly change and napoli has lost few matches this year as well so they are clearly not unbeatable.
Acm have task with no form and no goals
Napoli are favourites and better coached
I wish ACM all the very best in future games