Alexis Saelemaekers believes that AC Milan will shake off their issues against lower-ranking sides, instilling faith in Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao.
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As we have written ahead of pretty much every game for the past few months, it is another must-win match for Milan this evening against Parma. Inter’s win means that they are 10 points clear and could run away with it without a response, even before the derby to come in a couple of weeks.
In addition to that, there is the opportunity to open up an 11-point gap over Juventus, who are currently in fifth place. With 12 games to go after this, that would be a rather large margin in terms of securing Champions League qualification.
Saelemaekers has returned to the starting line-up after two games where he began on the bench following an adductor injury. He spoke to Sky and DAZN in the build-up to kick-off, and MilanNews relayed his words.
In terms of the table, are you looking up or down?
“We play by watching ourselves. We’ve worked hard to be ready for this match. We want to and must get a good result in front of our fans.”
In the first half of the season you suffered in matches like this, has anything changed?
“It was a weakness of ours, but we worked hard with the coach, looking at what wasn’t working well. Today we’re much more confident.”
Up front, Pulisic and Leao start. What can they give you?
“I think Rafa and Chris, like the other forwards, can give us a lot because they’re incredible players. We hope they’ll help us and score goals, also because of their personal confidence.”
Is the key word today patience?
“Yes, of course. We know Parma always defends 100%. They’ve done well this season, even in the first leg against us they showed that they’re a team that never gives up. Today it will be important for us to push hard right away in front of our fans, then we’ll see how the game goes, but we’re ready.”
What did you think of the Fabregas incident?
“I think it’s an episode of the past, I’m just focusing on today’s match.”