Paulo Fonseca, the AC Milan head coach, spoke to 'Sky Sport Italia' at the end of match against Real Madrid, the fourth match of the UEFA Champions League 2024-2025 Group Stage held at the 'Santiago Bernabeu' stadium in Madrid.
Here are his statements.
"We won because the players weren't afraid to play our game," he said. "In the first half, we did important things, and in the second, we suffered, but we deserved this victory. I disagree when people say that Italian football is too defensive. Today we showed that an Italian team knows how to defend. The team had the patience to play and wait for the right moment to attack. Now we need to grow."
On substituting Alvaro Morata with Tammy Abraham:
"Abraham has different characteristics compared to Morata. We started to lose control of the ball, but Alvaro was tired, and we had to replace him. Abraham helps a lot defensively. We were in a moment of pressure from Real. We shouldn’t forget that they’ve often changed the score in the final moments, like against Borussia Dortmund. We tried to defend together and better. We lost quality in our build-up, but I think the players gave their best."
Fonseca continued:
"These are games where we have more space, unlike in Italy. People don’t understand how hard it is in Italy. Monza uses man-marking, like Cagliari. It’s harder to play in Italy than in Europe. Today, of course, we played against Real Madrid, the best team in the world. Only those of us inside really understand this."
