PIOLI: "WE HAVE TO PLAY WITH INTENSITY AND CONVICTION"

It’s the eve of a highly anticipated and fascinating European clash: tomorrow evening, Manchester United v AC Milan will take place at Old Trafford, a stadium that evokes fond memories for the Rossoneri. Ahead of the game, Coach Stefano Pioli and Fikayo Tomori held a press conference, with their words being broadcast LIVE on the AC Milan Official App.

STATE OF PLAY
"As a result of the past week, we should feel more certain and have more confidence in our abilities. We’ve prepared with the aim of repeating a great performance tomorrow evening. Being a team in both phases of the game is always our starting point: the more compact we are, the better we’ll be in both defence and attack. There’s a choice to make: either get swept away by negative waves or ride the positive ones. We’ve chosen to ride the current one as we look to put in a good performance against a good side."

THE OPPONENTS
"They impressed me on Sunday, managing to beat a fantastic team in City and producing a performance where they showed great intensity and quality. This isn’t an early final, rather a prestigious tie between two historic sides. These matches need to be played with conviction and respect. We’ll be up against a team that was originally involved in a Champions League group containing PSG and Leipzig."

MANCHESTER AGAIN
"We’re working to return to being successful again, to fulfil our dreams. As Maldini said a while ago, we need to play in the Champions League for a couple of years in order to grow, think about competing at certain levels and win trophies. The road ahead is still long, but we need to show this conviction and enthusiasm along the way."

INDIVIDUALS
"I’m very happy with Dalot’s performances and growth. His future? We’re only focused on our upcoming matches, and it won’t be up to me to make these decisions. Donnarumma? Gigio is crucial for us, both when we defend and during our build-up play. The performance he produces will be very important for us tomorrow."

FIKAYO TOMORI

TOMORROW'S GAME
"It'll be really tough. These are two teams with a lot of history. It'll be a game full of passion. Everybody knows Manchester United. We've studied them hard and analysed the game. They have some really quick forwards. We know that it'll be difficult but we will give it our all and try to produce a great performance."

THE ATMOSPHERE IN ITALY
"Everyone at Milanello has helped me a lot, both with the language and off the pitch. I'm trying to learn Italian, even though it's a bit difficult. All this has given me a lot of strength to integrate into this group and play some good football. I'm happy and have the chance to do my best for this team. I always want to improve. Italy is different from England: the weather's good and the food is better."

TRUST FROM THE CLUB AND THE FUTURE
"It's amazing to feel wanted here, especially by a legend like Maldini, one of the greatest defenders of all time, if not the very best. This gives me a lot of confidence. I want to keep doing what I'm doing, play for the team and for my teammates. We'll see what happens in the future."

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