AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli believes that his side playing in Paris tonight is not just an ‘opportunity’ but also a ‘beautiful metaphor’.
Milan will make the trip to the French capital to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the third game of their Champions League group stage campaign on Wednesday night, hoping to register their first win.
The Rossoneri have so far drawn 0-0 against both Newcastle United and Borussia Dortmund which puts them third in the group, while they face a PSG side who are third in Ligue 1 and followed up a 2-0 win over Dortmund by losing 4-1 in Newcastle.
Pioli spoke during an interview with Sky that was broadcast on the eve of the match at the Parc des Princes and his comments were relayed by MilanNews.
A game in Paris – the city of love, which matches Milan’s love for the Champions League…
“Beautiful metaphor, yes: it’s an opportunity for us because we deserved it more in the first two games. We will try to exploit it. We will play against a high-level team and our level will have to be very, very high.”
Is tomorrow’s step the most important?
“Yes, one for the level of our opponents who are built to win the Champions League with Luis Enrique who is giving an imprint and an identity to the team, aggressive, modern, who controls the match. We will try to play a great game.”
What did you tell the team during your speech on the field?
“We talked about conviction, personality. To face PSG we need our characteristics and to put them on the field with strength, courage, without being scared if there are risks and dangers.”
Have you heard from Donnarumma?
“We saw each other at Milanello with the national team and we messaged each other some time ago. He gave his all with us until the last day, he was an important player. Then he made other choices: I will definitely hug him tomorrow, probably after the match.”
Why Kalulu and not Calabria?
“I’ll see, I still have two or three solutions to understand well. Tomorrow the team will be informed about who will start.”
What do you ask of Leao?
“I ask him to continue his growth knowing that he must try to be more decisive with goals and assists.”
Milan come into the game off the back of a frustrating 1-0 defeat against Juventus which was heavily conditioned by the first half red card that Malick Thiaw got, so a response will be vital.
