Slavia Praha head coach Jindrich Trpisovsky has described it as a celebration to be playing AC Milan, and remarked that it will be the highlight of his career.
Milan welcome Slavia to San Siro tomorrow night for the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie, and Stefano Pioli’s men may well be the favourites on paper but they should expect a tricky two games.
The Czech powerhouses have by now established themselves in the various competitions of European football, having earned a famous draw against Inter at San Siro in the Champions League a few years back, and having beaten Roma this season.
The magnitude of the occasion is highlighted through the following of fans that Slavia will bring from the Czech capital. According to estimates reported by the club’s official website, there will be around 5,000 away fans to fill the away section.
Slavia actually arrived in Italy on Tuesday night and their head coach Trpisovsky spoke at San Siro in his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
What Milan do you expect tomorrow?
“We will need a performance a bit like the one against Inter. Obviously there must be good mental and physical preparation, I am really happy to be here again. I hope and think it will be a similar match.
“Milan know how to play very well, Leao is one of the best in the world. We’ll see how we do it. We’ll also be very careful about the midfield, where Bennacer is. They have great experience: they’ll play a bit like Inter a few years ago, we’ll have to be very strong in defence.
“We will put all our strength into it. Milan use many players and they are all of the highest level. The Milan goalkeeper even has assists: it is a rare, unique thing. We should be very attentive to everything.”
Do you intend to change formation to face Milan?
“We played 120 minutes last week, then on Sunday. We changed some players also due to some injuries. Now we’re waiting for the final training session to understand who will be fit, especially among those who have played in all of the last two games.
“We actually play with a 4-3-3, we have to see how to fix things in defence tomorrow, I still have to fine-tune the current situation for a moment, to construct a better defence so that Milan have more difficulties.
“We have seen how Milan play and we have to decide the formation at the moment. Obviously we would like to continue like the last few games, in which we only conceded 3 goals.
“We know that another type of game probably awaits us. It’s difficult to prepare to face someone like Leao: normally we don’t meet players like him.”
What will it be like to play against Milan?
“For me, playing here is the peak of my career. I remember Baresi, Costacurta… back then we only saw them on television and even rarely. Playing against Milan is a celebration for us, against a team like this, with this tradition, with this stadium. I hope to do better than against Roma.”
Who would you take from Milan?
“It’s difficult to say. In fact, I’m happy that my players will face Milan’s players. I love Leao, we see him play often.”
