These are the words of Paolo Maldini to the microphones of Prime Video, just moments before the start of Tottenham – Milan:
“Our history is heavy, but this is the history of an ambitious and important club. Today we have the opportunity to enter the top eight in Europe, we must try. There will be difficulties, it will be difficult but stimulating, but these are the games where you find the resilience of your players.”
“What happens in tough times, I don’t know. The World Cup has made it so that this year there are two seasons: we started well but after two games everything changed, the team can have ups and downs, the psychological aspect is everything. The coach decided to change to avoid conceding too many goals, and then we went back to our concepts, to be aggressive and courageous, to play against everyone. The idea of seeking compactness in a difficult moment is logical, the decisions to change the formation are Pioli’s, and we support them.”
Maldini continued:
“We must think about where we started from and with what means we have come here. We must be proud. With the Scudetto we have raised the bar, will we always be competitive? Maybe not, but we are proud of where we are.”
On not including Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Champions League squad list, Maldini stated:
“The decision was difficult to make. He understood.”
