Milan return to the Europa League on Thursday night to face Crvena zvezda after their 2-2 first leg hosted by the Serbians. In the derby last weekend Milan was thrwarted 3-0 by Inter, they will look to overcome the defeat and advance to the next round of the European competition. The topics of conversation around Milan include not only football, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic's trip to the Sanremo Festival. Here were coach Stefano Pioli's comments leading up to Thursday's match:
"I speak every day with Ibra. Last week we finalized his schedule, he will miss two trainings but he will be there for the matches. If there is a champion capable of shrugging off this pressure it's him, I think it will even give him more motivation to help the team. We have a strong desire to right ourselves. The team knows the quality it posses. We want to show that we can play good football and get convincing results. I see a motivated group willing to return to playing as they did a few weeks ago. I tell the team there are 90 days left until the end of the season, they will determine our season. If things go well there could be 93 days left as May 26 is the final of the Europa League."
"When the team doesn't do well, our individuals are under pressure. Tonali is growing well. Bennacer didn't have a setback. During the week they will not train with the squad, we hope to have them back available soon. Kessie is well, he is available tomorrow. Possible tactical changes? We must have clear principles of play. We must insist on this. Thus so many changes can lead to other problems, we must be ready to push forward."
