ROTTERDAM (HOLLAND) (ITALPRESS) – “Tomorrow we have an important game, we are here because of our fault because we could have already been in the round of 16 but we take responsibility, tomorrow we want to play a good game and win.” Sergio Conceicao is asking his Milan team for a show of pride tomorrow at De Kuip against Feyenoord in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs. “Historically it’s difficult to play here, it’s a hot environment, like them we also have players out, but we will make the story of the match, the match will take a path according to what we do,” he adds. The Portuguese coach does not open his mind about the possible return of Leao among the starters after his recent benches (“He is available as in the other matches, it was my choice not to start with him but when he came in he did well”), nor about putting Pulisic, Leao, Gimenez and Joao Felix on the field at the same time: “They are available, let’s see. It’s not that by putting so many offensive players you score more goals just as it’s not that by putting so many defenders you don’t get any. There are many moments in a game when you need balance and we are working on that.” Then a joke about the great former, Gimenez: “I had been following him for a few years already, he is young, he has a long way to go but he is already a great player.” Whether Sergio Conceicao can open a cycle and stay on the Milan bench for a long time, somewhat like Ancelotti did, “is a question of results. Coaches always have their bags ready – the words of the person concerned – In soccer everything changes quickly, the important thing is to look at the present because the future depends on what we do every day. After every game you have to start again and think about the next one. At Porto they said I was going to stay 3-4 months and in the end I stayed 7 years. “Also in the press conference “host” Tijjani Reijnders. “It’s going to be a very important game, we wanted to be in the top 8, we didn’t succeed and now these play-offs are waiting for us. It will be tough but we are ready to play well. The relationship with Conceicao? He gives us a lot of energy and it also shows on the field, we need to continue like this,” adds the Dutch midfielder, among the most positive this season. “The only thing I try to do is to play my best, to be important with goals and assists and I hope to continue like this for a long time. There is a new balance in the team and it is important for me to play every game.” For Reijnders it is “good to be back in my home country, tomorrow my family will be in the stands, it will be even more special for me.”- photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
