Pioli claims that Tottenham will ‘not be able to surprise’ Milan – video

By Euan Burns -

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur will not be able to surprise his team on Wednesday night when the teams meet in the Champions League for a second time. 

Speaking during an interview with Milan TV (via SempreMilan.it) the day before the game against Antonio Conte’s side, Pioli was fairly bullish about the quality of his homework ahead of the game.

He thinks he is prepared for every possible scenario that may come up on Wednesday night at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

“Strangely enough for English teams that don’t change their attitude, Tottenham on the other hand is a team that has different attitudes and numbers in home games compared to away games. We have analysed their home games very well, they can be more aggressive than they were in Milan, more intense, more energetic. They will not be able to surprise us on this because we know them,” Pioli said.

When asked more specifically on how he can prepare the team for this sort of game, he explained that much of the preparation is natural for such a big game.

“I’d like to think and really believe that these are matches that prepare themselves, but it’s not like that. I believe that there will be no need to motivate the team because we all know the importance of this match, it would mean passing a round, it would mean improving so much our European path compared to last season,” he said.

“On the fact that the team will be motivated, attentive, focused, I don’t have the slightest doubt. Then it’s clear that we have prepared for the match. We played against them a fortnight ago, we know our opponents. From a tactical point of view we have done our tests where we want to have feedback in the game tomorrow.”

He wanted to stress that the Milan fans in the away end will be important for the team, just as the home fans will be important for Tottenham in a big stadium.

“Just as we have certainly gained fan energy in a fantastic stadium so will they tomorrow, but our fans will also be there and they will make themselves heard. It depends on our attitude, our approach to the match, which will have to be strong and intense, because we expect our opponents to do that,” Pioli said.

The coach was not too strong with his opinions on what sort of match it will be, saying: “It is always difficult to predict the course of a match. In the first leg it was a balanced, hard-fought game that we won with merit because we played in my opinion a little better than our opponents and we must aim to do the same tomorrow night.

“I believe that in the end the team that plays better will have a chance to go through and win. We have a small advantage, which is not an advantage we can manage, but we must approach the match with great determination, will and quality.”

On the European ambitions of the team, Pioli said: “We are talking about Milan, a team that is used to playing on certain stages and at certain levels, and especially in the Champions League has always tried to excel.

“It is clear that our path is to be important again in Europe, and tomorrow we have an opportunity. Difficult, but we know it’s an opportunity and it’s clear that tomorrow we will try to do something important.”

Tags AC Milan Stefano Pioli

1 Comment

Comments are closed

Serie A Standings

Live football scores . Current table, fixtures & results.