Speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Memorial of Claudio Lippi’ event, the former AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati shared his thoughts on the Champions League race, Rafael Leao and more.
Our colleagues at SempreMilan.it had the opportunity to speak to Abbiati on the sidelines of the event. The former Milan goalkeeper, who made 281 appearances for the club between 1998 and 2016, shared his thoughts on several topics.
On Milan…
”If Milan can reach the Champions League, I still think it will be an 8/10 season because no one would ever have expected this team to reach a Champions League semi-final. It’s normal that losing against Inter in a derby can decrease the value of the season in the eyes of others. However, in my opinion, they have still had an excellent season.”
On Leao…
“He’s definitely the star of the team. When you miss the champion you miss something. Rafa is the one who finishes, then there’s really important teamwork behind it. As I have always said, the club and the coach have done a great job in recent years.”
On what Milan lacked in the derby…
” Definitely the approach in the first minutes. In 2003, they were certainly two different squads, however, I think that Inter’s current squad is superior to that of Milan.”
On Maignan…
“As I’ve always said, I didn’t know him and he surprised me too. Very good goalkeeper, I think that right now he’s one of the strongest together with Courtois. Staying at Milan for many years as many other goalkeepers have done is the most difficult thing, so I think there is still time to judge. There was Donnarumma, Giovanni Galli, Sebastiano Rossi, Dida. Milan have always had great goalkeepers.”
On what Milan lacks to make the leap in quality…
“Perhaps more depth could be something.”
On Pioli…
“ I’ve never been a coach so I don’t judge Pioli’s work. What I see from the outside is that an excellent job has been done, let’s not forget that last year Milan won the Scudetto and this year they reached the semi-final of the Champions League.”
