In view of the AC Milan match against Atalanta away from home, coach Stefano Pioli of has expressed himself to the media and said the following:
"The start of this path was in January when Zlatan arrived, but also Kjaer and Saelemaekers. Tomorrow is his birthday, but neither ours nor his journey is over. Tomorrow we play against a great team. I would like to give him longevity as a gift and extend his career as much as possible, because he does what he likes with great passion."
On the team's condition:
"We had the right days to recover, the team is doing well. We come, like them, from a period in which we played often. It has given us so much, we are even more aware of ourselves."
Will Ibrahimovic be called up for tomorrow's match?
"Zlatan will not be among those in the squad list. He is better now but he will use the break in his favour to return to the team in a good condition."
On Franck Kessié:
"Franck is very strong and I am fortunate to have such strong players. I think it is very wrong to judge the performances according to the contract. The player who has a long-term contract, like the one that expires soon, can also make a mistake. Kessié's attitude is the best, like last season. He shows professionalism, dedication and hard work. He's probably not at 100% level yet because he had a busy summer."
You have players whose contracts are expiring soon like Kessié, Romanoli, Kjaer:
"There is not much to talk about here. Many players have expiring contracts in many other teams."
On the Champions League defeats:
"The defeats give you disappointment that you have to transform into positive energy. We have analysed it, the very good things done in numerical parity. We have shown that we are a competitive team even at those levels."
On the match tomorrow:
"Atalanta are good. Their game against Inter was spectacular. They have a strong squad with so many characteristics."
On Atlético Madrid's first goal:
"We have reviewed the first goal against Atletico. The video is much easier, but we realized that we could have done much better. We will try to be more careful tomorrow."
Rebic or Leao?
"They are both starters for me", said Pioli, "Tomorrow we will play the seventh game. The important thing is what the players have to offer when they are available."
On the midfield:
"I have 3 starters in midfield, two from the start and one during the game. Tonali is very well, Bennacer is very good and Franck is fine. We'll see tomorrow."
On Junior Messias:
"Tomorrow we will finally have Messias available. He will give us satisfaction: he is a player of quality, quantity and speed. What I have seen in Messias in these two days has impressed me. I think he can do well in both areas of the pitch, attacking midfielder and winger. He will give us a big helping hand."
On the current group:
"I like to see the team more aware of its qualities. I have great respect for a very strong team in Atalanta, but we are becoming very strong too."
On Bennacer's performance against Atlético Madrid and Giroud's condition:
"Bennacer's performance against Atletico was excellent. Like all players who have had physical and health problems, he also needed time. As for Olivier Giroud will return after the break."
To attack or wait tomorrow:
"It will depend on the situations. The more the opponents have quality and the closer you bring them to your area, the more you can suffer. We will have to have the right pressure times, defending low is not the situation we like best so we will try to play the game."
