Sandro Tonali played almost the entire game for AC Milan against Fiorentina and while it wasn’t his best performance, he added a much-needed physical presence. Afterwards, he admitted that the Rossoneri struggled.
Milan were heading for another disappointing draw but thanks to a very positive performance from Aster Vranckx off the bench, they managed to score a winner. Ante Rebic, the man who replaced Tonali, also had a hand in the own-goal.
Napoli are currently eight points ahead of Milan and it will be very interesting to see the first games after the World Cup. The Rossoneri certainly need to improve and they also need to rely on the Partenopei dropping points here and there.
Speaking to the media at his press conference – as relayed by MilanNews – Tonali admitted that the performance was far from ideal, just like the situation in the standings. In that sense, however, the World Cup break comes at a good time for the players.
The only thing that mattered was the three points…
“From now on they will count a lot, any game will weigh. There aren’t many ways to play a game, the goal is to win, playing well or playing badly. The fans don’t care much about playing well or playing badly, it matters to win. Today we gave our all, even if we didn’t manage many things from a technical point of view, but we have great character.”
Was it the best year of your career?
“I have only had few, we can put it in first place. I hope that others will be even better. A great year is closed, full of satisfactions and many small emotions.”
With what spirit will you follow the World Cup?
“I will watch it. It hurts not to be there and it will hurt even more this month, because you understand that we have done something big wrong. It will be difficult, but it will pass and we have to look forward.”
Vranckx came on and did very well…
“Aster has always been a guy who is available in everything, he’s been inside since day one, he deserves to play and experience these emotions as someone who always plays. He’s a good person and a good guy, as well as a great player. In the second half you start watching the clock and if you can’t do the best things you can do… We have changed the way we play, but not the spirit.”
After Atalanta you called the team to order, where are we today?
“The game against Atalanta was very different from this one, there was another way to play and we deserved more than a 1-1. In today’s game, many things have changed, two months later: the players change because they are injured a lot, but our Milan-worthy spirit does not change, which the coach has passed on to us in these two and a half years and we will have to carry it on forever.”
