Ruben Amorim, the Rossoneri coach, spoke to Sky Sport 24 at the end of the match between Milan and Atalanta, which the Rossoneri won 3-2, taking considerable risks in the final stages after dominating for an hour. His full statements.
Are you happier about the three points or angrier about the ending?
"I think the result is the most important thing at the end of the match, but we have to analyze the performance: with this schedule and considering that during the match we almost scored the fourth goal. Even the fans, after the 3-1, began to sense this nervousness. I think that, in some ways, we deserved to come out of this match with this state of mind because of the last twenty-five minutes. So, considering the full ninety minutes, we played well for the first 66-65 minutes, and then less well."
Why was Milan so "distracted" in the final stages?
"I don't know exactly what the word 'distracted' means and what it implies. We were a little tired, perhaps Atalanta were too, because they also played in midweek. Let's say that the momentum of the match changed completely after the 3-1: we stopped pressing, and nervousness began to rise. It can happen in football. We have to be more consistent in terms of performances and results, and even if we have to suffer, we have to suffer less."
Could the two goals have been avoided?
"Certainly, we could have avoided the two goals, controlled the penalty area and their transitions: sometimes we didn't track their runs. But we are playing well, and I don't want to focus only on the final part of the match. Clearly, at 3-0, we can defend without being so high up the pitch: sometimes it's a bit of a gamble. We wanted to try to score the fourth because, in some ways, we knew that if we conceded the goal to make it 3-1, we could suffer in the final stages.
Clearly, we have to do better: even the second goal against Benfica was similar to the first goal tonight, so there is something we have to manage better. The defenders were there, but we have to track the movement of the opposing midfielder making a forward run better," said Amorim to the sky network.
How did you see Moreira in the defensive phase?
"I think we did well for 60 minutes, we defended well. As for Moreira, you saw the match: he was trying to beat the opposing defender in one-on-one situations, whereas in this match he was tracking the runs in behind of their wide player, given that the opponent was very fast. That was the idea.
Then we still had problems in the last 25 minutes because we had little possession of the ball, with the two strikers they brought onto the pitch. I think Moreira played well until the 66th minute, when the whole team then stopped playing well and everyone, more or less, lowered the level of quality in all their plays."
Was it Milan's best performance of the season in the first 66 minutes?
"I would say yes, we showed ourselves to be more complete: we created chances, we controlled the ball well, we controlled their transitions, we controlled them well in man-to-man situations, in one-on-ones. And then, after that 66th minute, a little tiredness set in, we lost confidence, so certainly there was a general decline."
