Roma-Milan and Atalanta-Liverpool LIVE on the pitch at 9pm
“It’s one of the most important matches, if not the most important, in Atalanta’s history: but these are all things you say on the eve of the match, you have to know how to isolate yourself from these considerations during the match.” So Gian Piero Gasperini on Atalanta’s Europa League quarter-final second leg against Liverpool in Bergamo.
For further information ANSA Europa League Agency: Marciniak referees Roma-Milan, Letexier for Atalanta – Football – Ansa.it A Pole and a Frenchman for the matches of the three Italian teams (ANSA)
“We have to play as if we hadn’t won 3-0 in the first leg, knowing that we have to get a result and that the opponent is beatable – continues the Nerazzurri coach -. We are happy to play a match of this value in front of our fans, in a stadium that is taking its definitive shape, even if no one can sit in the Curva Sud yet: the frame matters.”
Gasperini is betting everything on the mentality of his team: “For us, losing is unacceptable and in the Europa League this year we have never lost: we go onto the pitch as if we had to secure qualification against a team to beat at all costs – he explains -. We are in in all three competitions, including the Italian Cup with the semi-final return match on the 24th with Fiorentina. We have great spirit, great enthusiasm and also quality, given that we know how to score goals. Last week we beat a team with one at their home strong identity and great value, unbeaten for some time and first in the Premier League.”
Finally, a jab that seems aimed at Juventus without naming it, regarding the transfer rumors about the most prominent Atalanta player: “Koopmeiners is playing with Atalanta and is also doing it very well. In this period of the season there are clubs outside the cups and it is easier for these rumors to come out – concludes Gasperini – Maybe someone is wondering if it is unfair that Atalanta plays in the semi-finals..”.
Comeback pegs: ‘Milan has the means to win in Rome’
Go through to win the only international trophy, the Europa League, that is missing from their history. Stefano Pioli’s Milan’s objective is clear, but the Rossoneri will have to overturn the 0-1 first leg deficit suffered by Daniele De Rossi’s Roma. A match that represents a fundamental crossroads, a turning point not only of the season but which, together with next Monday’s derby, could write the coach’s future. The Rossoneri coach must erase the dull performance of the first leg, symbol of an alternating current season in which Milan experienced “on fire” days and decidedly less exciting moments. Pioli, however, is convinced that the Rossoneri will play their chances of going through at the Olimpico. “I have faith in the team because they have the means to win. To win we have to defend well, suffer when we have to. I coach a mature and responsible team, they know how to interpret these matches. A match not as exceptional as the first leg he didn’t take anything away from us. We have to play it and win it”, the words of the Rossoneri coach. And he responds to De Rossi, who had spoken of a last resort, recalling that “yes, as regards tomorrow’s match and to be able to go to the semi-final, it is. But we will play the Champions League next year and tomorrow we will do our best There will always be criticism, we are the same ones who went to the Champions League semi-finals”, he adds. The talent of Rafael Leao, the Rossoneri star who has been criticized in recent outings and is ready to lead his team towards what could be the 50th trophy in Rossoneri history, to be raised under the Dublin sky next year, will have to tip the balance in the Rossoneri’s favor. may 22. The Portuguese, for his part, does not hide himself by admitting that the match at the Olimpico is like “a final. We play for Milan; if we do well, we footballers, the coach and everyone who works here are happy. We have the aim of winning this competition and if we succeed we are all happy. It works like this at Milan, our fans want to win. But no challenge with Dybala because “we are both strong. He is very strong, I like him, it gives me joy to see him play because he does different things. In modern football there are few of him, he is a nice person, after the match he gave me his shirt and lots of advice”, his words. An inside or outside match in which Pioli will have no margin for error. This is also why our minds can’t yet turn to the derby and the desire to postpone Inter’s Scudetto celebration; no rotations, therefore, the best will go on the pitch with Maignan taking back the goal after being excluded against Sassuolo as a precaution, and a defense in which the only ballot remains the one between Gabbia and Thiaw on who will partner Tomori. Bennacer and Reijnders in the middle and the trio Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and Leao assisting Giroud. The classic Milan, therefore, for Pioli who hopes to find one of the great European nights so as not to say goodbye too soon to the dream of winning his first trophy – as a coach – outside the Italian borders.
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2024-04-18 14:04:02
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