RIAD (SAUDI ARABIA) – The fever is passing, a consequence of stress-filled days after arriving at a stormy time and immediately leaving for Saudi Arabia. But Sergio Conceicao is not the type to be stopped by the flu, proof of which is the fact that after a few minutes against Juventus he took off his jacket and started leading his team from the sidelines to the sound of shouts. Like the ones he didn’t spare at halftime of the semifinal, key to turning the game around and taking the final against Inter: “I hope the team is better than me,” Conceicao said in conference. “We are preparing the match, Inter is a strong team, used to winning, with the same coach, with players who have been playing together for a long time. It’s a good thing for them, we have to think about ourselves: it’s all difficult, but in the difficulties we have to be men all of us, we can’t forget that so many fans are watching us. We also cannot forget that we have 4-5 players who are not at the top. Do I feel the competition against a former team of mine? No, I have respect for all the teams I played with. The feeling is the same regardless of the opponent: the feelings I have for my players, I have so much desire to prepare things well so that they can beat a strong team. That’s the most important thing in our minds, the base has to be our ambition. There are two games to win a title, we have taken one step and we have to take the other: hopefully it will go well, we have confidence.”
That the air in the locker room has changed is evident, the management is different and the players have understood this from the beginning. Milan needs to shake off the dross of a first part of the season lived between ups and downs, and the signs in the second half against Juventus seem to be going in that direction. The derby remains a special contest, with Inter favored and Milan dreaming of spoiling their party. Clash between two former teammates like Conceicao and Inzaghi, who last time (it was March 2023) did not even say goodbye to each other after the draw in Porto (0-0 with two woodpeckers hit by the hosts in the second half) that promoted the Nerazzurri to the Champions League quarterfinals: “Will we shake hands this time? Definitely – assured Conceicao -. There are episodes that happen in the match, but there is always respect: we are soccer men, we played together and we love each other. He will be my friend both before and after the match.”
Only then will it be clear whether Milan has really turned around, although the change in attitude and desire shown against Juventus were encouraging. As emblematic was the players’ circle after the game to listen to Bennacer’s words (“Finals are not played, they are won,” the Algerian shouted): “But the spirit has always been there,” Reijnders explained, “I think we need to gain more and more confidence, and beating Juve gave us a good boost in that sense. We have to feel like a family, and that was a good signal. In the first half against Juve we were not aggressive enough in our pressing and we were not taking risks with the ball. In the second half we showed that we could do more, creating more chances. Tomorrow we have a great opportunity, it would be my first success at Milan and I have to play as if it were my last game. It is not often that we can win a trophy, then we will have to think about the league and the Champions League, it is a good chance to turn things around.”
That turning point that too many times seemed to come and then did not. Until Conceicao, a guy who even with a fever of 39 doesn’t give an inch. Exactly what he asks of his players, who against Inter have the most difficult test to face, the one that will have to say whether Milan has really turned a corner.
– Photo: Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
