AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has said that the match against Genoa ‘put his heart at risk’ due to the dramatic ending of the game in Liguria.
Scaroni spoke to Sky Sport (via Milan News) in the wake of the game which ended with red cards for both goalkeepers and a late winner for the Rossoneri from Christian Pulisic.
Mike Maignan’s red card came when Milan had already used all of their substitutions, so that meant Olivier Giroud had to go in goal for the final few minutes of the game to protect the 1-0 lead.
The sending-off of Genoa’s goalkeeper made the task slightly easier, although they could put another goalkeeper on the pitch rather than use an outfield player.
“A fantastic thing I must say, he [Giroud] really parried. In my opinion it was a demonstration of a team spirit that I really liked. When you create that spirit nothing is impossible,” Scaroni said.
Scaroni was also asked about his objectives for the club going forward and he admitted that there is only one thing that he demands of the club each season.
“I have in mind that Milan must always be in the Champions League. That’s enough, I have no other goals. You tell me, do you like winning the Scudetto? Yes, very much. But it’s not our number one goal. We’re a big world club, we have to be in the Champions League because we want our fans around the world to see us. That’s how I reason. From that point of view being first is a step in that direction. Then I have to say that other games like the one last Saturday put my heart at risk, for the rest we’ve had some good games this term.”
He also confirmed that he will be at the next Derby della Madonnina: “There’s the return match, there will be Milan-Inter and I’ll go because it’s not an away match. I didn’t go to Inter-Milan because it was an away match, but I’ll go to Milan-Inter and I’m sure we’ll do very well.”
“I have in mind that Milan must always be in the Champions League. That’s enough, I have no other goals. You tell me, do you like winning the Scudetto? Yes, very much. But it’s not our number one goal” I think this is probably also where the divide was in terms of what Maldini wanted versus what he wanted. Maldini was too accustomed to winning actual trophies and would take the risk one year to get a trophy at the expense of getting UCL next year. It’s in his blood to want to win something. However for our owners it’s a business. It’s like Arsenal back in the day when they used to say top 4 is a trophy. Welcome to the new Arsenal. They don’t really care about getting the second star over Inter, they’d much rather we get top 4 again because of UCL money
Just stop, don’t mention Maldini and those theories anymore… he is already gone.
He is a legend and were grateful about what he did for us, both as player and as director, but he is gone, and the club currently is doing well. Long May it continue.
I was just saying that this was a stark contrast between the two.and it obviously is. I didn’t mean to bring up old wounds. Yes we’re doing well now and it’s great. But it also means, evening you take out Maldini for a second, that the way forward for our owners is a top 4 finish. It’s literally what Scaroni is saying in the quotes….he doesn’t care about trophies as those are consequential not an objective. Does that make sense.
Didn’t Cardinale say that he wants Milan to always win the scudetto and even the UCL ?
He did say he’d give Pioli a squad to win (or compete?, Can’t recall exactly ) in Europe. And that the team now is more European 🤷♂️