AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli believes the San Siro atmosphere is a useful weapon for his side against Atletico Madrid in what will be a ‘very important’ game.
Milan come into the game riding the crest of a wave after back-to-back league wins, their most recent being a character-testing 2-1 victory at Spezia over the weekend in which Brahim Diaz scored a late winner.
Atletico Madrid were the champions of LaLiga for an 11th time last season, finishing above their city rivals Real Madrid by two points after winning 26 of their 38 league games, but they have started with a bit of a stutter so far in 2021-22.
They have won just once in their last five games across all competitions, including a 0-0 home draw to Porto in their first UCL group game. Nonetheless, this is a seasoned Champions League team that are a match for nearly everyone on their day.
Pioli was interviewed by Sky Italia before the game at San Siro, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.
On a special evening for the fans: “Our fans have great passion, tonight we feel that there is a special atmosphere. They will help us in the difficult moments of a match that will be complicated. We have to play with great attention, tactical clarity and technical quality.”
On the choices: “Kjaer is not yet at 100%, we will aim for him on Sunday. I had 3 midfielders to rotate in these many commitments, tonight it’s Sandro’s turn to catch his breath “.
On whether it will be a decisive game: “Having lost the first one tonight it would be very important to get a positive result, it will be important but not decisive, there will still be 12 points up for grabs.”
