ALLEGRI: "SINGLE‑LEG MATCH, IT WILL BE EXCITING AND TOUGH"

It's the eve of the beginning of the defence of our Supercoppa Italiana title, that we won last January. The test ahead of us is a difficult one, a semi-final against the reigning league champions, Napoli: a match that has been introduced in the press conference on the eve of the match, from Riyadh, by Massimiliano Allegri and Mike Maignan. 

MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI

THE MATCH AGAINST NAPOLI
"Tomorrow is a single-leg match, with the objective of getting to the Final on Monday. Napoli are a strong side, it will be a difficult match. We have to focus on this match now, and then we will think about the league. Aside from the tactical side of things, Napoli will want to bounce back from their two consecutive losses. In moments of difficulty, Conte always manages to get the best out of his teams". 

LEÃO AND FOFANA
"Youssouf is definitely available. In terms of Rafa, we'll need to see how he is doing in the training session today to get a better idea".

EVENTUAL TACTICAL VARIATIONS
"It's not a question of formation, we've always lined up with three attacking players. Saelemaekers is the one who gives us balance, because he can be the third attacker and the fifth midfielder. We've got Athekame and Jashari, we need new bursts of energy from players coming back because we've had the same players playing consistently". 

THE MILAN FUTURO BOYS
"This is the reward for the work they've put in. Milan Futuro must be an important asset for the future of AC Milan, so that we always have 2/3 players coming from there. For them, this is an important experience and we're happy to have them here with us". 

GIMENEZ'S CONDITION
"He went through a period of conservative therapy, but the issue flared up again in recent days and he's been advised to undergo a minor procedure. We hope to have him back as soon as possible, our market now is focussed on recovering injured players. We'll think about the rest later on with the club". 

MIKE MAIGNAN

AHEAD OF THE SUPERCOPPA
"It was great to win last season but this is a new season. We have to forget about it and be focussed on the match tomorrow evening, which is the most important. There's no Final on Monday without it. We'll make the most of training today to be in the best condition tomorrow". 

THE GROUP
"As my teammates have said, we're a family this year, a group where everyone feels good. The Coach and his staff have brought a calmness and good way of working, we have to continue in this way, maintaining this tempo and trying to improve every single day, always staying focussed". 

PRESENT AND FUTURE
"The most important thing at the moment, is concentrating on what I can do everyday. My future is being talked about but it's not something that must disturb me, I must only think about giving my all. This isn't the time to talk about it". 

WORKING WITH COACH FILIPPI
"He's made me very relaxed, he has experience and is level headed, he knows how to manage a group of goalkeepers. Working in this way is very easy, I don't want to make comparisons, but we feel very good, he knows how to manage me. I hope it goes on like this for the rest of the season". 

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