The Rossoneri full-back, Diogo Dalot, gave an interview to Sportweek, a well-known sports weekly edition attached to La Gazzetta dello Sport. Here are the words of the young Portuguese.
On Italian football:
"On a physical level and in terms of game intensity, Italian football is certainly more demanding than Portuguese, but we who come from there have already shown that we know how to adapt to different contexts. That's what I'm doing here, and for me, it represents a reason of pride."
On his inclusion in Milan:
"The fact of knowing Leao for years and being his friend is helping me a lot, but I was also lucky to have found a group of players and a coaching staff who are as one. This has accelerated my acclimatization."
On Leao:
"We are quite different. He is much more extroverted off the pitch, and even on the pitch I seem more concentrated. Not that he isn't, let's say he is differently. Maybe that's why we are so friends, because I am almost a father figure to him: I reassure him, I invite him to reflect before doing something, to take it easy. I stay close to him and tell him what is good and what is not good. He does the opposite: he says I have to be looser, that I don't have to worry too much about everything. We are the opposite of each other, it's fun."
On coach Stefano Pioli:
"I like his ability to communicate with the players, making everyone feel useful and special, whether he plays every game or takes the field once a month. As a coach he is doing a fantastic job. Serie A speaks for him."
If he expected to play more:
"When I accepted Milan's offer, I had a more important goal than others, to feel the scent of grass again; before that, to return to considering myself a player after all the injuries that had held me back in the The last three years. Up to now I have always been at the manager's disposal. Then I wanted to show that I deserve to play, through daily work. And I think I have reached this goal too: up to now I have played 16 games."
On the differences with Calabria:
"From a full-back Pioli wants balance: defensive compactness and ability to push. Compared to Calabria, I am perhaps a bit more offensive. Having different characteristics is a resource: Davide, Theo and I have different qualities and this is a good thing, because it offers the coach the possibility of choice and increases competitiveness in training. In a great club like Milan, competition raises the overall level of the team."
On his goals:
"My goal is to become a complete player. When I quit, I wish I'd have won a lot and that it is said of me that I have been a reference in my role."
On the Scudetto dream:
"If we are starting to believe it? It's normal when you score a lot of points and in the locker room there are players, or ex, winners like Zlatan or Bonera and Dida. The important thing is to keep the balance. If we can, I am convinced that we will fight all the way to the title."
On the Europa League :
"We must respect the Red Star, the next opponent. Alone, the Milan crest we wear on our chest does not win the games. Without an audience they lose a lot, but remain dangerous".
