On Sunday night the 15th, the skies of Milan will be coloured red black and blue. It’s derby time! Check out recent derby moments at the San Siro in videos:
AC Milan coach Allegri’s thoughts on the derby:
“I think Inter have changed their style of play since Ranieri took over from Gasperini. They’re going through a good period and have found the right balance. They concede very little and I think they’ll have a full squad to chose from tomorrow. I think they’ll be tough to play against. It’s a derby so there’ll be a lot of tension and we’ll have to stay focused. We need to understand the importance of this game. There are still 20 games left to play and we’re a long way from the end of the season. The distance between us is 8 points and so It’s vital that we got a positive result tomorrow. If we do that we’ll make it much harder for Inter to get back into the title race. The derby is a stand alone game and we’ll have to play it in the best possible way knowing that it’s an important game for the league. If Inter get a good result, they can fight their way back into the title race. But anything can happen in football, you never know.”
“This week, we’ve worked like we always do. But this is the last week that we have to do that until 20 February because if we get through to the next round of the cup, we’ll be playing a game every three days.”
“The team is calm and collected. It’s normal that there’s some market movements this month, the team will be used to that. In the end, it all worked out. Pato is staying and everyone is happy. No one said they didn’t want him here or that I wanted to sell him. It was just a move to find a replacement for Cassano, who by the way, passed his medical tests yesterday and we could have him back for the end of the season.”
“With Pato and with all the other, I believe I have a respectful human relationship an so when all these rumours started flying, they really dropped from the clouds. I have no problem towards Pato. He’s 22 years old, he’s had a year and a half when he missed a lot of games through injury and it’s obvious that it takes time to get back the right mental and physical shape to be able to play. When he’s been fit, he’s been a starter. It’s normal to sit on the bench sometimes, as it is for Robinhho and many others because playing 50 games in a row is not easy. In fact, it’s almost impossible. Pato is a champion. With the potential that he has, he can and he must do much better. It’s not true that I have an issue with him. No one ever put his qualities in doubt. His main quality is scoring goals and he has always scored, maintaining a very high goal average. He put in a good performance in Bergamo, he won the penalty and hit the post.”
“I was happy to sign the contract extension, but there was never a problem about that. We just had to find the time to do it. It wasn’t accelerated by the Pato story. I spoke about it with Adriano Galliani after the Cagliari game but it was only a question of finding the time. I’m happy that President Berlusconi and Doctor Galliani have confirmed my position and I’m able to continue the work that we started a year and a half ago. The club have given me an important squad and have brought in a lot of players, slowly changing the team. The work done by the club has been important because the age of the squad has come down a lot. Tomorrow’s game is a crossroads. I believe that we have what we need to continue our work in the best way.”
“We’ve made changes based on the players characteristics. The ‘older’ players have to be thanked a lot. The old group, I mean because it’s not easy for a new player to come into the Milanello sports centre as it’s such an important club. The ‘older’ players have helped with their integration.”
“Between today and tomorrow I’ll decide who to play on the right of midfield. Boateng did well in Bergamo anyway. Emanuelson could be a possibility as could playing three up front.”
“If I felt that Pato might have left or wasn’t in the right frame of mind to play, he wouldn’t have played in Bergamo. But for me, he was and is still a Milan player. Tevez would have been a replacement for Cassano. Pato has always trained well with full commitment, concentration and professionalism every time he has trained and that includes these past few days. I haven’t seen anything new in his training an I’m satisfied with what he does.”
“On the eve of the derby it doesn’t make sense to talk about market targets. We’ll talk with the club next week because now we’re focused on tomorrow’s game.”
“I don’t think there’s any need to try to build up the players for this game. The players have prepared well both physically and mentally. When the summer transfer window was open, there were reports of a player leaving and a player arriving every day. This week passed, they talked about two things; Pato and the coach. Well, Pato is staying and I signed a new contract so there’s nothing more there.”
“At the start we had a few problems and a lot of injuries and then in the last six months, things have happened that have never before happened in the history of the club like Cassano and Gattuso’s problems and the injuries to Flamini and Yepes. In the moments of difficulty, the squad showed technical qualities and determination getting back to the top of the table. Obviously when you’re up against the top teams it’s more difficult.”
“Now we focus on this year and on retaining the title and doing better in the Champions League. We have Arsenal in the last 16 which is a decisive game.”
“I’m just a coach who makes decisions like the other coaches and together with the club has to evaluate choices and take decisions which is what we’ve done.”
