AC Milan's head coach, Sérgio Conceicao, speaks to the media in a press conference in view of tomorrow's big derby match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a fixture valid for the Supercoppa Italiana final.
Here are his statements:
How are you?
"I hope the team is doing better than I am. We are preparing for this match against a strong team that has been playing together for many years. We need to focus on ourselves. Yes, it’s difficult, but we must be ready among men. We must not forget that we have one less day of rest compared to Inter, and we must not forget that some players are coming back from injuries. However, I don’t want to make excuses. You won’t hear me talking about these things after the match."
Do you feel this match in a special way? Conceicao replied:
"I have the utmost respect for the teams we face. We played against Juve, where my son is, but my emotions are for my players, for preparing things well so that they know exactly what to do tomorrow. I’m focused on our condition, our ambition. The foundation must be the hunger to win. We’ve taken half a step; now we need to take the other half. Let’s hope it goes well, we have confidence."
Simone Inzaghi mentioned your experience with Eriksson...
"I’ve had so many great coaches; it was a fantastic team. Eriksson, I never saw him angry; he would just turn red. I’ve had Sacchi, Malesani, so many great Italian coaches, it was an incredible learning experience."
How is Rafael Leao?
"We’ll see this afternoon. He definitely doesn’t have 90 minutes in him; I’ll have to manage him. I’m not sure if he’ll be available, we’ll see if he plays or not. This afternoon we’ll train and then decide."
Do you talk with the nutritionist?
"Of course, I talk with the nutritionist. I place great importance on weight, nutrition, and all these small details."
Conceicao added:
"Luck doesn’t come unless you work. It comes if you work hard, if you’re serious. You can have all the faith in the world, but if you just stay home and pray for goals, you’ll never get them, you have to score them. We need to have hunger, organization, and a bit of luck."
What is your relationship with Simone Inzaghi?
"We will definitely hug. These are things that happen during a match (referring to the missed handshake in Porto). He’ll be my friend before and after the match, but during it, he’s an opponent."
