Inter v AC Milan, Supercoppa Italiana 2024/25: the pre-match press conference

A.C. MILAN OFFICIAL

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00:00Good morning everyone, I apologise first and foremost for the delay, a little bit of unforeseen

00:08circumstances.

00:09We'll try and have a brief presser once again because the gaffer's still got a bit of fever.

00:14We'll start the questions with the Corriere della Sera.

00:18Good morning gaffer, I'm over here, I'd like to start by asking you how you are first and

00:24foremost because I heard you cough there.

00:28How are you?

00:30And how are the team looking?

00:34Because I heard that some of the players haven't necessarily been well over the last few days.

00:38What have you made of the time since the semi-final?

00:42Good morning everyone, I apologise for the delay, to echo what Nicola said.

00:49I hope the team are better than I am because I'm not particularly well.

00:56We are preparing for the game, for the final, against an Inter side who are a top team and

01:07over the last few years they've become very accustomed to winning with the same head coach,

01:12with a number of players that have been playing together for a long while and that's great

01:19for Inter.

01:20But we need to look at us, at ourselves, sure.

01:25It is very difficult but when the going gets tough we all need to stand up and be men,

01:31we all need to take on board that responsibility because we mustn't forget that we've had one

01:36less day in terms of recovery compared with Inter.

01:40We mustn't overlook the fact that we have four or five players that have also picked

01:45up injuries and aren't necessarily 100% fit.

01:51That is a fact, I don't want to look for excuses, you won't hear me talk about this come the

01:58end of the match, whether we win or whether we don't, but that is the situation at hand.

02:04Let's go to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

02:07Hi coach, with Porto you were involved in a number of finals, you've been involved in

02:12a whole host of important games, this is your first important match since you've taken charge

02:19of Milan, coming up against one of your former clubs during your playing career, does that

02:25mean anything?

02:27Does it make it any more special this match?

02:30No, I've got the utmost respect for all of the teams that I represented as a player.

02:39We come up against Juventus, my son plays for Juventus and it's the same feeling for

02:46me whatever the opposition I come up against.

02:51I do have a special bond for my players, I've got a great deal of desire to prepare the

02:58game well so that the players know exactly what they need to do tomorrow in order to

03:04succeed in beating a top side in the shape of Inter.

03:09That's the most important thing, that's all I've got in my mind, it's our belief, our

03:14ambition, they really need to be the foundations, the ambition, the desire, that will to win.

03:24It's quite a short route to a piece of silverware, it's only two matches, we've already taken

03:28one step, we've now got another step to take, I hope that things go well, we have a lot

03:35of confidence, however as I said earlier on there are issues, but that's part and parcel

03:40of life and often amidst the difficulties that's when you find some wonderful things.

03:48Good morning, I wanted to ask Tijani Reinders whether coming from behind to beat Juventus

03:55with that great showing of character gets you a bit, brings you into this final with

04:00added motivation and a question for the gaffer, I wanted to ask you, Simone Inzaghi in his

04:07press conference referenced Sven-Joran Eriksson as your mentor, there are at least seven or

04:14eight coaches from that Lazio side and you're often very good coaches, you've won a great

04:19deal, what did those common origins with Eriksson mean to you, how important was it?

04:29You won against Juventus, you started conceding a goal, then you had a strong reaction and

04:49finally you won, this reaction is good for your attitude, you feel good after that, you

04:59think you can achieve a good result in the final starting from that good attitude that you had?

05:08Yes, I think the first half we weren't aggressive enough in our pressing or when we had the

05:17ball we didn't try to risk for an attack and the second half we showed that we can

05:26give a lot more aggressivity in the game and I think the second half we worked harder,

05:37we created more chances and we should bring that to the game tomorrow.

05:47I've had a host of excellent head coaches and Sven-Joran Eriksson really left his mark

05:58with all of us, he had a wonderful relationship with all of the players, I never saw him get

06:06angry, he only just went red in the face and blushed, Sven has a place in my heart and

06:16all of the players in that team have Sven in their heart.

06:19I had Rigo Sacchi, I had Alberto Malesani, I had a whole host of excellent Italian head

06:24coaches, it was a really wonderful coaching school for me, even Italy as a country I always

06:31say it's my second home because I came here as a young man, I had some wonderful times

06:36in this country and now it's a privilege and an honour to be here in front of you and to

06:42be head coach of a historic team like Milan, it really is a wonderful feeling, it was a

06:52very important period of my life as a professional and I met some wonderful head coaches during

06:56that time too.

06:57Good morning everyone, a question for both of you, Tijani, very quickly, on Friday you

07:04saw Stefano Pioli and he said that you never scored under him, was it nice to see Pioli

07:11again, especially given how many more goals you've scored and a question for the head

07:15coach?

07:16Maybe I'll ask it a bit later on.

07:17It was nice to see Pioli again, we had a little joke between each other, I think maybe you

07:26saw what he said, but for me I have good feelings with Mr Pioli and last season I played more

07:36from the number six, so I had less opportunities to go in front of the goal of the opponent

07:47and this season I play more up front and I can find the net much more often luckily.

07:58And a very simple question for the head coach, how is Rafael Lial, could he be on the bench

08:02tomorrow?

08:04We have a training session this afternoon and we'll assess things then, we'll see how

08:07he is.

08:11He certainly doesn't have 90 minutes under his belt, I need to try and manage his game

08:14time.

08:15First and foremost I need to see if he is available for selection, once I've done that then we'll

08:20decide whether or not he plays.

08:24This afternoon we have a training session and you'll see tomorrow when the team news

08:30breaks.

08:43Question for the head coach.

08:51Have you spoken to your colleague Herrera about Saudi football?

08:58Have you spoken to your nutritionist, Victor Teixeira?

09:16Yes of course I speak to the nutritionist, he's a very important figure in our set-up.

09:20Weight, nutrition, recovery, all of these factors are very important for me because

09:30this is elite football and the players need to not necessarily be at 100%, they need to

09:35be at 1000%.

09:36Who is he, a friend of the nutritionist?

09:40This would be your first major trophy in club football, let alone in an AC Milan shirt.

09:51How special would it feel to win the Super Cup in an AC Milan shirt in Riyadh?

09:56It's a big opportunity, it's my first chance to win a big trophy and tomorrow I have to

10:05play like it's my last game.

10:07I think we all should do that, it's a nice chance for us as a group to win a trophy like

10:14this and from that we have to go on also in the league and in the Champions League.

10:20So it's a good opportunity to change things.

10:25Tijani, at the end of the match with Juventus we see you make a circle and Ismail was speaking

10:43to you, is this the spirit which was maybe missing in the last few weeks at the beginning

10:49of the season?

10:54The spirit was always there but I think we have to gain more confidence in our group

11:02and the win against Juve gave us a good boost and we have to keep going on from that.

11:12We have to feel like family together in this team and I think that was a good sign from

11:18us to each other that we are family and that we want to work for each other.

11:23Are you considering yourself lucky to start with Milan, first face Juventus and then face Inter?

11:42No, you don't get good luck unless you work to your utmost of your ability, you also need

11:48a bit of good luck and the rub of the green in life but you only get lucky if you work

11:52very hard, if you're a professional, if you have a great deal of desire, then yes, otherwise

12:00you can be the most faithful person in the world and you might actually, if you don't

12:09buy a lottery ticket and you pray that you'll win the lottery, you'll never win it, you

12:12actually need to go out there and buy a ticket.

12:14We need to do that, we need to have that desire, that hunger, the organisation and of course

12:20you need a little bit of the rub of the green too.

12:23Are you disappointed with my answer?

12:24Are you disappointed with my good luck?

12:26Ah, is he a Juventus fan, this guy?

12:28No.

12:29No?

12:30Okay.

12:31Gazzetta dello Sport.

12:33Hi Gaffer.

12:34I'm over here.

12:35Good morning.

12:36Gazzetta dello Sport.

12:40What's your relationship with Simone Inzaghi?

12:43I think that you guys get on very well even though you haven't necessarily spoken according

12:47to him since 2023.

12:49Was that a mistake, the fact that you didn't shake his hand, that game between Inter and

12:53Porto?

12:54Will you shake hands?

12:55Will you embrace one another?

12:57Absolutely.

13:00There are situations which happen during matches but that all stays on the pitch.

13:05Once the game is over, it's finished there.

13:06There wasn't a lack of respect, we're two men who played together, we like one another,

13:15he'll be my friend both before and after the game but during the game he'll be my opponent

13:19Thanks very much everyone.

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