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Massimiliano Allegri has stressed his belief that the game against Udinese is one of the four most important games of the season.
Milan make the trip east on Saturday for a game between fourth and fifth place in the table, something that was perhaps hard to imagine before a ball was kicked. However, Udinese have so far beaten Inter and Pisa, while drawing to a Cremonese side that the Rossoneri lost to in round one.
Since losing that particular game the response has been positive: Milan beat Lecce 2-0 away from home and then won 1-0 against Bologna at San Siro on Sunday. The defensive improvement has been clear, but must now be maintained.
‘Four key matches in a season’
Allegri spoke at Milanello this afternoon in his pre-match press conference, which we have translated in full. The first two questions he was asked concerned where his side currently stand after three games, and if the team have already recovered mentally.
“I don’t know where we stand. The team are coming off two wins, and tomorrow we face a very difficult match. Udinese have seven points, they’re a very physical team, and playing in Udine is very difficult,” he said.
“Tomorrow is an important test for us, we’ve talked about it: we need to build on the two wins we’ve had. Tomorrow we know we have a chance against a very physical team that’s difficult to beat. The pitch will tell us.
“It’s not like we’ve all become good and beautiful just because we’ve won two games. Tomorrow night, when the match starts, we have to turn the switch on, otherwise we’ll hurt ourselves, especially against a team like Udinese. There are four key matches in a season, and tomorrow is very important.
“We need to approach it with a great sense of responsibility, playing a game of great compactness and technique. There will be little space, we’ll have to take advantage of the opportunities we get: we need to improve our chances, which are currently very low. We need to be ready.”
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