AC Milan v Feyenoord, Champions League 2024/25: the pre-match press conference

A.C. MILAN OFFICIAL

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00:00Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome along to this pre-match press conference on the eve

00:05of Milan against Feyenoord with Zlatan Ibrahimović and FIKA. Tomorrow we'll start with Milan

00:10TV. Thank you, Nicola. Good afternoon, Zlatan. Good afternoon, FIKA. Zlatan, the team needs

00:17to produce on the pitch tomorrow night, but right from Saturday evening, you want to make

00:23sure that there's the right atmosphere surrounding the team. The atmosphere was good in Rotterdam

00:28for Feyenoord. The De Kooijp stadium was an example. Does San Siro need to look like that

00:36tomorrow night? Before I answer this question, it's a rare situation that I'm here. The head

00:43coach is in Portugal. He's on his way. He'll be here imminently. That's why I'm here. As

00:53for tomorrow, our fans are important. Feyenoord had the edge with their home crowd in Rotterdam.

01:04They really drove them on a great deal. But I'm very confident that it will be a different

01:11game tomorrow night with our fans, with 80,000 Milan fans. But it's not only those that will

01:20be at San Siro. It will also be those that are outside the stadium and all over the world.

01:28They'll give the team strength and they'll drive the team on to produce their best football.

01:32And then the team need to pick up on this energy and motivation on the pitch from everyone

01:37to try and do as much as possible and to be ready. Hi, FIKA. Why can Milan make it through

01:46tomorrow evening? What are the main reasons why Milan can make it through to the next stage,

01:51doing what to bubble? We need to go out there with the right attitude, with the will to win

02:00that we always possess. We all know that the first leg we played against Feyenoord was not

02:10what we wanted and we know what we need to do tomorrow, namely win. We need to win by

02:16one or two goals to make it through to the next round. We are ready and we're motivated

02:25to win the match. Corriere della Sera. Hi Zlatan, good afternoon. Listen, I wanted to

02:38ask you the following. How do you explain Milan's up and downs? Milan were unrecognizable

02:48in Rotterdam compared with other performances. How do you explain that even with the head

02:53coach as well? I imagine that you speak to each other on a regular basis. As I said,

02:59I don't know whether it was a week ago or so. The most important thing is that our base

03:06level is as high as possible because there will be some lows. But the most important

03:11thing is to make sure those lows are as high as possible. Because it's not easy to be at

03:17the peak of your powers day in, day out. But that's what we're working towards and what

03:20we're trying to prepare. Over the long run, the team that has the highest low period is

03:28ultimately the team that wins. And that's what we're looking for. We're seeking a team

03:34mentality. That mindset whereby where things aren't necessarily working out but you're

03:42still very much focused and you're able to produce that winning mindset. And that's what

03:49we're trying to create within this group of players. That when these times do come along,

03:55we need to try and make sure we perform as best as we can. I communicate with the players

04:00on a daily basis. We speak to one another. We're trying to find solutions. And day in,

04:07day out, we speak to the head coach as well, along with the players. But we mustn't overload

04:14them with information because you can actually mislead people if you overload them with information.

04:21If you keep hammering home the same point day in, day out to players, ultimately it

04:26doesn't get lodged in their mind. It's like with your wife. If you say to them that you

04:31love them on a daily basis, it's in one ear and out the other. You actually need to show

04:35them with their actions. Talk is cheap. You need to show how much you love your wife on

04:39a daily basis. But maybe that's different to what you need to do with players.

04:46In recent press conferences, especially when things weren't working well, the Gaffer has

04:51often spoken about the lack of focus, attention from the team. Tomorrow night's match is a

05:01knockout game for Milan. You were involved in so many of these across all competitions

05:09in your career, including in the Champions League. And I wanted to ask you, what are

05:14the fundamentals that the team need to do tomorrow and what do they need to avoid getting

05:19wrong? The team needs to be focused, aggressive, more clinical tomorrow night. They need to

05:33do all of those things better than we did in the first leg in Rotterdam. They need to

05:36go out there with the mentality that this is a cup final. It's a cup final that you

05:41have to win. Depends how you play. Obviously you want to play well, but ultimately what

05:45matters is winning the match. Because we had a game where we lost, we are trailing

05:54on aggregate and we need to get a result in order to make it through to the next round.

06:00Everyone needs to stand side by side with their teammate and drive each other on. And

06:07you need to really get the best out of one another. It's a collective mindset, but it

06:12does start with certain individuals in order for then it to become a team effort. The players

06:20on the bench also need to drive each other forward. It's all linked to the collective.

06:26That's what makes you a team and a squad in the first place.

06:29Rai, good afternoon. Hi Zlatan, hi Fik. My first question is for Tomori. Zlatan was highlighting

06:38the fact that tomorrow it needs to be a cup final. And for you and the defensive unit

06:45that you're part of, it's crucial not to concede. Keep a clean sheet, isn't it?

06:50Yeah, absolutely. Both as a team and as defenders, our aim is to keep clean sheets in every single

07:01match. Of course, it will be a different game tomorrow because we're already trailing by

07:06a goal. But yes, we're well aware of the quality we possess in the side. And as I said, the

07:16priority is to keep a clean sheet. But if we do concede, then we mustn't lose our focus.

07:25We need to keep playing the same way and we need to believe in what we're doing. Ultimately,

07:34we know that we want to win and we have to win. It'll be a difficult game, just as it

07:39was in Rotterdam, but we need to focus and switch on to make sure we can achieve what

07:47we want to. And for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, tomorrow night's game is a crucial match. I wanted

07:58to know how you're feeling as a senior management figure. It's almost been two separate seasons,

08:06a lot of issues up until Christmas, but then the turning point with the January transfer

08:10window. How important is it for you and for the senior management tomorrow night's game?

08:16For me personally, it is an important game, yes, because I'm a winner. I want to win and

08:24I want to get results. I'm not someone who tries to do things that don't leave their

08:33mark in history. On the contrary, I try to do things differently in order to write a

08:40new chapter of history. And Milan is a club that makes footballing history and everyone

08:45that works at Milan, they're all here to do exactly the same thing. And in order to make

08:52history you need to win matches. When you win matches, then you come home with trophies

08:57and that's what Milan is all about. But tomorrow's game is obviously very important because if

09:03you look back through Milan's history in the Champions League, Milan has written a number

09:10of chapters with their Champions League trophies and we want to continue to do that. And on

09:20the outside, looking in, we're driving them forward. They're the guys out there on the

09:25pitch. They're doing the utmost of their powers and we're here at Milan and we need to keep

09:31getting results and keep writing history. And that's why tomorrow night's game is a

09:35cup final. Mediaset. Hi, I'll start with Fick. Things have changed since Kyle Walker came

09:49in. You guys speak to each other a great deal in your mother tongue. What has changed defensively?

09:54Milan are a little bit more solid at the back. How is Kyle helping out and what does it mean

10:00playing alongside him? Yes, Kyle and I speak all the time because we speak English to one

10:07another. But yes, he's brought calm and experience. And I think the entire team is familiar with

10:20the experience and the trophies that Kyle has won. And that's why we're delighted to

10:26have Kyle as a teammate. Because when he says something, when he wants to do something,

10:33when he says something, then everyone pays attention and listens because we know what

10:37a good footballer he is. It's a bit like when Ibra came in and he brought his experience

10:45as an asset. No, not like him. No, he's a nicer guy. No, in a different way. No, Kyle

10:56Walker is a good footballer. He's getting even better within this team because there

11:02are certain things that the head coach is asking him to do that he needs to do. Not

11:06only him, but the whole team. But given that we're speaking about him, ever since he came

11:14to the club, he's done a great deal of hard work to help out the team. Ibra, yesterday

11:20we saw the importance of your signings in the January transfer window. Rerato Vega and

11:28Nicolo Moani came in. That's the importance of the January transfer window and Milan had

11:33a great window. What do you expect from the new players? And you also stressed the fact

11:36that Santiago Jimenez is a killer in the box. Is he on the right track in order to follow

11:43in your footsteps? We expect a great deal from the new signings. As Tomori said about

11:54Walker, he's already part of the squad. He's not a talented young player that needs to

11:58develop or needs to learn. No, he needs to come in and immediately get results. The same

12:04goes for Joao Felix, who I believe can do even more in terms of his development. Santiago

12:11Jimenez is the player that can develop and become an even better footballer. Plus we

12:17have Warren Bondo and Ricardo Sotilo and they've got room for improvement too. But I expect

12:23a great deal. The club expects a great deal from these new signings. They need to break

12:29into the team, immediately find a place in the side. They mustn't wait. I've already

12:33said to everyone, don't wait. Force your way into the team. That's what the team is expecting.

12:40Something new coming into the side, breaking into the team and mixing things up in terms

12:44of the hierarchy. That's what they're doing. And from our side, what's important is allowing

12:53them to settle in, in terms of Milan style. As Adriano Gagliani has always said, players

12:59need to think only about playing football and we'll focus on everything else. And that

13:03is the way we do things. That's our working culture here at Milan. As for Santi Jimenez,

13:09in terms of what was missing, that type of quality in front of the goal, that's why I

13:16say he's a killer, because he's there, he waits for chances, but he also needs to run

13:20because with the head coach, if you don't run, you won't play. But he also needs to

13:24help out outside the penalty area and in the area as well. That's where we think he can

13:31be the most dangerous player, just like we saw in the last game. He was the right man

13:36in the right place at the right time for that situation. And then he needs to put the

13:39ball in the back of the net. Because if I remember my first press conference with Santi

13:44Jimenez, I said to a Mexican journalist that the ball can come from any player, from right,

13:51from left. I'm not going to say any names because every single player is important.

13:55But I would also say Mike, the ball can also come from Mike Meunier. That's why he needs

14:00to just be up there, stay focused, switched on, and find the back of the net.

14:06Dutch television. Dutch national television. Question in English.

14:12Our condolences about the private situation of the coach. Are you these days a coach,

14:19a mental coach? Football coach?

14:25He's asked me whether I'm a head coach. No, I'm a backup in every area. When required,

14:41I'm a reserve. I come on and do a job. No, all jokes aside, the head coach is not here.

14:50And I'm conducting the press conference because he's not here. And he's had a personal situation

14:57in Portugal which you're all very well aware of. I'm helping up Milan in this instance.

15:03La Repubblica. Good afternoon. First a question for Tomori. I wanted to ask you, in Rotterdam

15:12you had some issues in terms of managing their strikers. What do you think the main

15:19issues that you encountered in the first leg were? And have you looked at something in

15:24terms of how to limit their strikers tomorrow night?

15:28Yes, we spoke amongst ourselves after the game. We hadn't necessarily watched the footage

15:34back because we had a game against Verona on the horizon. But today I'm sure we will

15:38watch the game back from the first leg in terms of what we did well and what we can

15:44improve upon. The things that we didn't do so well. Sure, we know that we lost the game

15:53and that their strikers played well. They were aggressive in the duels. They stretched

16:01the pitch high up with the ball. They were also linking up the various areas of the pitch

16:07amongst the units. We need to watch the first leg back and see where we can improve. Not

16:19only with regards to their forwards but in terms of the entire opposition side. And for

16:26me the most important thing is to focus on what we can do better in order to win the

16:32match.

16:33Zlatan, a question for you as well. I wanted to ask you, earlier on you referenced Adriano

16:41Gagliani. In the last few months with Paolo Fonseca often Milan were criticised about

16:48the fact that there wasn't necessarily a senior management figure that really backed up the

16:55head coach. Whereas in recent weeks we've seen you a lot in press conferences alongside

17:00new signings. Today you're here to step in for Sergio Conceicao. Is that now part of

17:07your new role? Are you trying to get a little bit closer to what Adriano Gagliani meant

17:12to Milan? No, if we go back in time last summer I was always there in press conferences for

17:20new signings. But we spoke to Paolo Fonseca on a daily basis. We were there at Milanello.

17:29There was daily communication. It wasn't only between me and him. He spoke to all of

17:33the senior management. We were with him. We spoke to him just as we're doing now. But

17:38today is a rare situation that I explained earlier on. Even after the last game it was

17:44a rare situation too. And it's not that something has changed. We're all working hard. We all

17:54have our responsibilities and duties. And we're doing everything in our power to help

18:00everyone out to try and get Milan to be Milan.

18:04Hi Zlatan, good evening. I wanted to take a step back because the Champions League is

18:13important. This Champions League campaign is important but it's also important to be

18:18in next season's Champions League. You have cut the gap on fourth spot in recent weeks.

18:22Who do you think Milan's most dangerous opponent is? Lazio, Juventus, Fiorentina or Bologna

18:29when it comes to finishing in the top four?

18:32Results change on a weekly basis. Every team is trying to qualify for the Champions League.

18:40We're focused on what we need to do. If we take things one game at a time we have to

18:49approach every game like it's a cup final. Tomorrow will be another cup final in the

18:54Champions League. It's not set yet. But I think regardless whoever's ahead of us all

19:08of the teams are doing everything in their power to make it into the Champions League

19:11places. Ultimately it will be a battle amongst all of these teams. As for who will make it,

19:21I think all of the teams that are ahead of us are dangerous and we need to beat everyone

19:25to make sure we make the top four.

19:27Hi Zlatan, there's a player that's not in the Champions League squad but is playing

19:35very well, Alex Jimenez, the Spaniard. We saw him come off the bench against Verona,

19:41he got the assist or the pre-assist for the goal. He's coming on leaps and bounds. Real

19:48Madrid, however, have a buy-back option on the player. Are you already in conversations

19:52with Real Madrid in order to keep him because he's developing and he's also a brave player.

19:57You can see that in the way he plays the game. Last summer when I spoke about this I said

20:03that Alex Jimenez is the backup to Teo Hernandez but he was very patient when he came in and

20:13now he's very much part of the squad. Yes, there is a buy-back clause for Real Madrid

20:18but we have a good relationship with Real Madrid. There's no discussion ongoing but

20:25he is an important player for us and if we go back to last summer when we created the

20:30Milan Futuro project, Jimenez was a Milan Futuro player and if we're talking about

20:35Milan Futuro now we have Francesco Camarda, Alex Jimenez, Davide Bartesagni, Lorenzo Torriani,

20:44Kevin Zeroli who's joined Monser on loan, Hugo Cuenca who went to Genoa, Stalmac who

20:51went to Germany. No, Cuenca went to Genoa. Yes, I said Genoa. Stalmac's moved on to Germany.

20:57Who else am I missing? Mattia Liberale has already made his debut. So that was our strategy

21:04when it came to Milan Futuro. Things are going well and we're happy because Alex Jimenez

21:13has already played at San Siro, needs to keep developing. He's a player that we believe

21:18in and we want to give him playing time. We want to give playing time to our talents and

21:23he's one of our talented players and he did very well in the last game. I'm disappointed

21:29that he's not in the Champions League squad. We could only change three players unfortunately

21:34and as of next season I think he'll be part of the academy product so he should fall into

21:40the B-list options. That's the way it is. Thank you.

21:46Good afternoon Zlatan. Good afternoon Fikaya. Question for Tomori. Ever since the January

21:54transfer window ended, I haven't spoken to you but we know that you were linked with

21:59a number of clubs including Juventus but you really wanted to stay at Milan. I wanted you

22:03to comment on that. Why did you want to really stay at Milan and is that your intention going

22:09forward as well? Yes, I've always said that ever since I joined Milan I felt at home and

22:18nothing has changed on that score. There are clubs linked with you and people talk about

22:32transfer rumours every time there's a transfer window but I was and I continue to be focused

22:38on the job at hand. I want to stay here. That's always been the case. I'm proud and

22:50very pleased to wear these colours and at no stage did I have the desire to leave the

22:56club as long as they want me I'll be here. Tele Lombardia. Good afternoon to both of

23:04you. How does Gerry Cardinale and the ownership look forward to this game? We speak to Gerry

23:22on a daily basis. He's very involved. He's very motivated. Of course he wants to get

23:31success with Milan not only in the Champions League but also in Serie A. He gives strength

23:40to every one of us that works here. He gives us a lot of confidence. We're working as hard

23:49as we can on this side of things to get results but Gerry Cardinale is very involved. He's

23:56very up to speed with things in order to make sure that we're doing well. He asks for results.

24:03He gives you scope to be yourself, to do your job but in return he wants results. Thank

24:10you. Last two questions. A question for Ibrahimovic. You wrote a book about adrenaline that allowed

24:24you to keep performing until 40 years of age with that drive that kept pushing you on.

24:31You need adrenaline in the Champions League. You had him as a team-mate as well. How do

24:39you get that adrenaline coursing about through Teo Hernandez's veins? Moments like these

24:46are special. Tomorrow for the players it is a moment that you want to really savour. These

24:53are the moments you want to be involved in as a footballer. It all comes down to one

24:58game. It's like a cup final. And if you have the opportunity to play matches such as these

25:06then you enjoy it in a different way. I enjoy it now from upstairs. Tomori enjoys it from

25:13out there on the pitch and he'll do everything in his power on the pitch to win the game.

25:18Everyone has their own approach in terms of the way they experience the game to try and

25:23get the best out of themselves. But then it depends what sort of player you are in

25:34terms of your team-mates motivating you, geeing you up. I was more focused. I didn't need

25:39any superstition or anything like that in order to go into the game. I had that confidence

25:47and self-belief that when I decided to play well I went out there on the pitch and played

25:53well. Teo is no longer a kid. Teo was a kid when I joined the club. Now he's grown up

26:01and he's become one of the best full-backs in world football. He knows what he needs

26:05to do in order to get the best out of himself. He needs to find the trigger point in order

26:17to reach his best performances. And that's the hardest thing as a footballer because

26:22you always need to try and find that button where you can then really motivate yourself.

26:31We need to do our job but ultimately it's down to the players going out there on the

26:35pitch and finding that motivation to do the best they can. My thing was being angry. Everyone

26:43was wondering why is he always angry. It was to perform well. It wasn't just because I

26:47was angry for the sake of it.

26:49A question for Tomori. Good evening to both of you. Fik, tell us the truth. Can you sustain

27:00all four of those forwards there or should you have three players out there? Is it sustainable

27:05to have four attacking players like that from the start? Before you wanted all four of them

27:15out there. Now things have changed. The head coach always says if we play three at the

27:25back, five at the back or four at the back we have an aim, namely to win matches. And

27:29in order to win matches you need to run, you need to battle, you need to do everything

27:33well in order to give yourself the best possible chance of winning games. If we play with three

27:44or four attacking players we go out there on the pitch and then it's the starting eleven

27:49that go out there to try and win the match. And then the substitutes are there to help

27:55us too. So whether it's three, four, five, seven, ten up top, we're only trying to win

28:01the game. Carlo, one final question please. I wanted to ask if possible a couple of things

28:08to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. First is technical, the second is about transfers. The first is

28:13to do with Raphael Liao. When you played did they ask you to track back? Yes, we saw you

28:22running back 30 metres but is Raphael Liao not the sort of player, a bit like Salamacca's

28:29Giroud? You can't necessarily ask Liao to play in the final third and make the difference.

28:37Do you not think so? How do you see things? Oh it's great because everyone's speaking

28:41about Raphael Liao, everyone is saying to him to tell him how to play. We believe that

28:50Raphael Liao is one of the best players in the world. How can you explain to one of the

28:55best players in the world how he's supposed to play football? He knows how to play, that's

29:00why he's a world class player. Sure, you can ask him tactically where he needs to be. You

29:08can motivate him, run a bit more. You can say to him where to be when a corner is being

29:17taken. That all comes down to tactics but in terms of the way he plays you don't explain

29:22it to him. He explains to you how he's supposed to play because he is Raphael Liao for a reason.

29:29There's a reason why he's at Milan and there's a reason why he's a world class player, one

29:31of the best in the world. In the last game someone asked me the question, when Liao has

29:38the ball why does he not run forward? Why is he standing still? Don't worry about that,

29:44Liao knows what he's doing. He'll explain to you whether he needs to be a standing start

29:50or not. What's the second question? I'll apologise to the press officer but given that you're

29:57here I want to ask you another question. Tomorrow Milan will be playing without Italian players.

30:04I compare Italian players to white truffles, very rare, very expensive, fragrant but very

30:13expensive. Will things change in future in terms of Italian players because there are

30:18certain players that cost twice as much as Christian Pulisic but are only worth half

30:24of what Pulisic is worth? They're worth in terms of quality or in terms of value? No,

30:31in terms of quality. So I understand that you go to foreign markets and you can pick

30:37up quality players that cost less but given that you need to slot in a few Italian players,

30:43will you change things next summer in terms of your transfer policy or does it depend

30:47on the opportunities that arise? We tried to bring in Italians, unfortunately we weren't

30:57able to sign any. We did seal Riccardo Sottile, he's an Italian player, we want Italian players

31:04but in certain situations, every situation is different, it's unique. We're trying to

31:14get the best possible players to Milan but once you're at Milan there are no guarantees

31:20because everyone needs to be switched on to perform as best as they can because there's

31:24always someone alongside you that can take your role, take your spot and if it's not

31:29him then we can bring someone in from outside, whether he's Italian or foreign. What we're

31:37trying to bring into the club are players that are well suited to Milan, that fit at

31:46Milan because there are a number of top players but when they play in front of 80,000 people

31:52at San Siro in front of this Milan crowd it's different. I've seen a number of top players

31:56that came to Milan that didn't succeed at Milan, that doesn't mean that they're not

32:02good footballers, what it means is the atmosphere for certain reasons, they weren't able to

32:07do well, they went elsewhere and played well because when you're at Milan you need to get

32:14results and that's why Milan is Milan, that's why Milan players end up becoming legends

32:21because they get results, they bring trophies to the club and they make club history. There

32:28are foreign players, there are Italians but we've got our eyes on a number of Italian

32:33players but as you said the Italian market is very different. Thank you very much. No

32:40but we don't have any fear of that, if it's the right fit then we will do so. Thank you

32:47very much everyone.

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