AC Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali has revealed that it was more of a help than a hinderance for the team to go into tonight’s game against Dinamo Zagreb knowing they had to win.
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Milan romped to a 4-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia tonight which saw them move second in Group E after Red Bull Salzburg were beaten at home by Chelsea, meaning a draw against Salzburg next week would be enough to get into the knockout stages.
Matteo Gabbia scored his first senior goal for Milan with a header from a Sandro Tonali free-kick to get the scoring going, then Rafael Leao made it 2-0 with a solo run, Olivier Giroud buried a penalty after Tonali had been hauled down to make it three and finally an own-goal from Robert Ljubicic capped off the scoring.
Tonali spoke to Milan TV at the end of the game against Dinamo with his Man of the Match trophy in hand after an excellent performance. MilanNews transcribed his quotes, which we have translated below.
“We had prepared for the game in only one way, that is to win. There was no alternative. We knew that the pitch was difficult but with a beautiful stadium to play a game. It was very normal, we changed and we realised that we had to keep the ball, win the game and score as soon as possible,” he began.
“We know we are strong. We had already beaten Dinamo in the first leg and we knew them very well. When you only have one target for a game, it’s hard to think about anything else. As a great team, we did everything right from the first minutes. We must continue like this.”
On the MOTM award: “I am proud and happy with this award. We must ensure that we can play every game with this ruthlessness and this desire to win. Today we could have scored more goals but it was a positive performance from everyone.”
On the next match against Salzburg: “It won’t be easy, but we have to play to win. This is the only thing we want to do. It is a very hard game, we are lucky enough to play at San Siro and with the help of our fans we have to bring it to our side.”
