AC Milan were able to get the first win of the campaign after beating Brescia 1-0 on Saturday. This victory provided huge relief for manager Marco Giampaolo, who has been brought in as the replacement for Gennaro Gattuso. The 52-year-old has a contract with Milan until 2021 and he has largely been able to achieve success with Sampdoria in recent times. However, the start to his Milan career has not been so great with the club losing 1-0 against Udinese in the first game of the season. A major shock from the game was the inability to get even a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
However, Hakan Calhanoglu was able to come up with the breakthrough after just 12 minutes into the game againstBrescia. This early goal was very decisive in a game that did not have too many opportunities for both teams. After the match,Giampaolo admitted that the team was still a work in progress. A major surprise for fans and pundits was the absence of Krzysztof Piatek from the starting lineup. The 24-year-old was dropped in favour of Andre Silva as there were a couple of changes to the team that lost against Udinese. Milan were grateful to see former striker Mario Balotelli turn up for Brescia due to suspension.
Continue reading Giampaolo Happy to Get First Win As Milan Manager
Atalanta have a tough fixture against Juventus on the road during the upcoming game week and when asked about that game, Gattuso said: “If the group is looking at Juventus-Atalanta? No, we can’t control our destiny but we can control our pride. Let’s not lose energy by looking elsewhere. We will face an already relegated Frosinone that will come to San Siro with nothing to lose. We’re thinking of our pride and getting as many points as possible. This team is doing good things, the campaign we had to have… there is talk about us as if we were 8th, 9th or 10th but we’re still in there, we have values and we’ve demonstrated them.”
He said: “Maybe I’m not good enough to make people understand these little things. We expected to do something more, we knew the difficulties of the opponent. On the offside we were unlucky, it wasn’t very clear, we have to look ahead. In the first half we played under rhythm, it wasn’t a great performance, we were good and lucky to find the advantage, then they found a great goal on a free kick after our ingenuity.”
At present, the Rossoneri are clinging onto the final Champions League qualification spot in fourth and speaking to reporters, Scaroni is impressed with the uptrend of fortunes around the club. He added that he has been pleased with the recruitment policy with both Lucas Paqueta and Krzysztof Piatek hitting the ground running since their winter arrivals.
Speaking after the Rossoneri’s Coppa Italia triumph over Sampdoria, Gattuso stressed that he has a good relationship with the striker and the pair are quite honest while speaking to each other. However, the ex-Champions League winner added that he is unsure regarding the Argentine’s position and the forthcoming weeks should provide a clarity regarding the same.
Speaking after the game, Higuain highlighted the importance of the goal and praised his manager, who has supported him during a run of nine matches where he could not find the net. He added that the Italian Super Cup remains the next main challenge for them and they are determined to win the trophy against Juventus following the winter break.
Nonetheless, there has been the speculation of Gattuso being potentially replaced at the turn of the year with Conte deemed a potential successor but Scaroni has dismisses those claims, he told Gazzetta dello Sport: “Maybe they haven’t told me, but I’ve never heard him mentioned by anyone. I don’t even have his mobile number.”
As a result, Silva was offered the opportunity to head to Sevilla on a season-long loan with the option to buy this summer but the move has already been criticised by a section of the supporters after witnessing the Portuguese score a hat-trick for the Spanish club during his maiden La Liga game.
Speaking in a press conference, Halilovic admitted that he could not quite to his ‘wonderkid’ expectations during his time with Barcelona but he comes to the Rossoneri after gaining the experience of playing nearly 100 matches across Europe, he said: “I was very young two years ago. I went to Barcelona when I was 19. It’s hard when you’re young and don’t get the chance to play. Now at 22 and having made more than 90 appearances in the biggest leagues in the world I thought it was the right time to take a further step.”