MILANELLO - Training has come to a close at the Milanello sports centre.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – Here’s what Walter mazzarri had to say during his press conference before leaving for Milan:“I wouldn’t sign for a draw. We have to give everything we have and I’d like to do better in the league. I don’t want to talk about the adversary’s formation. We know each other well. From my players tomorrow, I expert a show of personality. We’ll have to be at our best. Also we tend to do well on the big stages, I hope that’s not been forgotten. It’s true that Milan have lost their last game but they won all the previous games at a stroll. We know it’ll be tough but we’ll give it our all.”
Read the original Article Here
MILANELLO - Adriano Galliani recognizes Ignazio Abate reaching the 100 mark for the Rossoneri.
Read the original Article Here
MILANELLO - Here are the 20 players called up by coach Allegri for Milan-Napoli: Abbiati, Amelia, Abate, Antonini, Bonera, Ely (53), Mesbah, Mexes, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta, Ambrosini, Cristante (34), Emanuelson, Nocerino, Seedorf, Van Bommel, El Shaarawy, Ibrahimovic, Maxi Lopez, Robinho
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – Here are the 20 players called up by Walter Mazzarri for tomorrow’s game against Milan at the San Siro:
De Sanctis, Rosati, Colombo, Aronica, Britos, Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Fernandez, Dossena, Maggio, Hamsik, Zuniga, Dzemaili, Gargano, Inler, Cavani, Lavezzi, Pandev, Chavez, Vargas.
Read the original Article Here
(IN THE PHOTO: Ignazio Abate, his first 100 games for the club)
MILAN – 3 December 2003 he made his debut at 17 year old with the Milan shirt on his back in an Italian Cup match against Sampdoria. More than 8 years later, Ignazio Abate reaches 100 appearances with the reigning Italian champions.
Two in 2003/2004, 36 in 2009/2010 after a trip around the country gaining experience. The 37 games last season and 25 so far in this campaign.
Adriano Galliani, as tradition dictates, gave a sghot speech to the player at the Milanello sports centre before training today.
“He made his debut with us at a very young age, only 17. It was during a game in 2003 in Genova against Sampdoria. Then after gaining some experience but without ever losing track of him, we brought him back from Empoli alongside Luca Antonini. He’s back at home now and that’s where he’ll stay. It took more than 8 years to get to 100 appearances but I’m sure it’ll take much less to get to 200. Ignazio is an example to all. He got here as an 11 year old and he found his fortune. The club wishes him all the best.”
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – After Mark Van Bommel’s 500 league games, it’s another important moment for another Rossoneri.
Ignazio Abate, prior to today’s training session, will be presented with an award by Club CEO Adriano Galliani for having reached 100 games with the club that he has always supported.
Read the original Article Here
MILANELLO - Massimiliano Allegri held his press conference ahead of Milan-Napoli: "We have to take it one game at a time."
Read the original Article Here
MILANELLO – Here’s what Massimiliano Allegri had to say in today’s press conference ahead of Milan-Napoli:
"In the five games played, we played them well and except for the match in Bergamo, we won them all quite easily. In the two games we lost we paid a high price for the mistakes made. The team is in the semi-final of the Italian Cup, the last 16 of the Champions League and has one point less than this time last year.”
“They’ve done all they can to get the pitch ready at the San Siro ahead of the game. Necessity is the mother of invention and we’ll try and play a big game to get back winning because we’ll be up against a team that has important qualities both individually and collectively. There’s a possible gap of more than 15 points between Napoli and the top spot so they could get back into the top spots. It’ll be harder for them this year because they’re in three competitions and maybe they’re not used to that but they’re having a good year and they played well on Wednesday.
“I’m not worried about the criticism. It’s normal that when a team loses, the first man in the cross hairs is the coach, but we’ve been through worse moments. We have a few absences that don’t allow me to change the team from game to game but we have players who know how to play well when they’re called upon. I’m satisfied with how we’re doing but in football everyone has an opinion and they can change from day to day. A team doesn’t become bad after one loss. We need balance now that we’re coming from a loss but we need that even if we had won 10 in a row.
“Football is not basketball. Changing for the sake of it is not a good idea and also I believe that I’m able to get the best out of this team’s characteristics from the players I have available. The team is used to playing like this, the only change is a trequartista.”
I definitely don’t feel like Antonio Conte is making fun of me. I just look at my house and not the others. In any case, I believe he underestimates his team by continuing to say that we’re the favourites and I don’t think it’s good to underestimate your players.”
“It’s impossible to work on the players’ fitness as we have a game every three days. We have to stay calm and anyway, there’s no reason to be alarmed. There’s still a lot of points up for grabs. We need to understand our mistakes and learn from them. We’re a team that fighting on all fronts and that makes me happy.”
The team is fine and they’re working well. At the moment, we have certain players with certain characteristics available. The three up front in Novara played a good game in the second half and they played well in Rome as well. From the players I have available I’ll obviously be asking for different things than I would from Boateng.”
Ibra plays well with Robinho and El Shaarway and I think he’ll play well with Maxi Lopez. We’re waiting for Pato to come back and he’s making progress. In any case, Ibra can play well with anyone.”
“The ref are doing their job well and obviously there will be mistakes made in your favour or against you. But if you look back at the end of the season, they even themselves out.”
“At the moment, the injury situation is not clear. No one has come back yet and It’s hard to see anyone back for the game against Arsenal. It’s not good to build up expectations if the players won’t be available. They’re all working together to get back as soon as they can and I hope it’ll be sooner rather than later.”
“Tomorrow I’ll have 4 midfielders available and I’ll have to decide which one doesn’t play. There’ll be two strikers as well.”
“Going back to Wednesday’s game, I subbed Ambrosini and El Shaarawy because I thought that with Emanuelson and Seedorf we could have got back in the game but the changes didn’t work.”
“We don’t have any problems but we definitely need to improve, as always, because this is a team that has potential to do better. Maybe we weren’t competitive enough in the last few games, even those we won. Sometimes without realising it you try a bit less if you know that you can win the game in any moment but then things can change and you concede. You have to keep the attention level high always.”
“I think that last year when Ibra was suspended, Pato and Robinho filled the gap. This year Pato has never been available and Robinho has been out for two months. Until now the midfield has picked up the slack. We just need to be more careful and not concede a goal from the first mistake we make.”
I hope that next Wednesday it’ll be less cold. An emergency situation like this only lasts for a week and not for a month and they’ve moved all kick offs to the afternoon which is the right thing to do.”
“I’m calm and aware of what we’ve done and where we’ve slipped up and where we can improve as well as the importance of the match on 26 February.”
“It seems to me that the important thing is not the number of points we have but our position in the table on 13 May, whether we ahead of or behind Juventus. The head to head will be big but what counts is the end result. This year we’ve picked up more points against the small teams and less against the big, last year it was the opposite. I don’t know if we’ll be back on top if we win the next three games. We have to take it one game at a time.”
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - La Lega has communicated the dates of the games to be replayed due to extreme weather conditions:Wednesday 15 February ATALANTA-GENOA (18.30)Wednesday 15 February PARMA-JUVENTUS (18.30)
Tuesday 21 February BOLOGNA-FIORENTINA (18.30)Wednesday 22 February SIENA-CATANIA (18.30)
The remainder of Catania-Roma, interupted with 20 minutes left to play due to flash floods, will be played on Wednesday 8 Frebruary at 20.00 and not on Tuesday 7 as was previously announced.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - It's the eve of Milan-Napoli which kicks off tomorrow at 15.00.The team will train today at the same time. Check the site later for a breakdown of what the team did.
Read the original Article Here
MILANO - Mark Van Bommel spoke to the Milan Channel ahead of Sunday's match against Napoli.
"This year, like last year, Milan-Napoli is a key game for the title. After having lost against lazio, we don't want to drop any more points. We have Napoli now and then Juventus, then Udinese and then Juventus again in the league. I'd say this is the most important part of the season and I want to score as well. We're not happy unless we win becasue we know that Juventus are getting away from us. The reaction inside the changing room was imortant and it'll be important to learn from the loss in order to get back winning."
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - According to the official club website, Walter Mazzarri's team trained at the Castelvolturno sports centre this afternoon. The team will leave for Milan tomorrow afternoon.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – Along with Cesena-Catani, La Lega has decided to postpone Roma-Inter as well. The game was supposed to have been played at 15.00 but snow in the capital has seen the game put off.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – Last season Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored against Napoli in both games while Edinson Cavani failed to find the back of the net against the Rossoneri. The season, the South American is in the lead thanks to his hat-trick in Naples.Meanwhile, Panini Digital has released the numbers regarding the two forwards: Shots on target: Ibrahimovic 71 – Cavani 62; Goals: Ibrahimovic 15 – Cavani 12. Ibra has supplied 52 assists, 4 of which led to goals.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – There are six players for Milan and Napoli who have seen the most game time: MILAN: Thiago Silva 1749 minutes played in the league, Nocerino 1707, Abate 1607. NAPOLI: De Sanctis 1997 minutes, Cavani 1664, Campagnaro 1628
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - Nicola Rizzoli will referee Milan-Napoli. He’ll be assisted by Fabiano Preti and Gianluca Cariolato. Andrea Romeo will be the fourth man. It’ll be Rizzoli’s 139th game in Italy’s top flight. His precedents with Milan are 15 wins, 3 draws and 9 losses. With Napoli; 5 wins, 8 draws and 5 losses.
Read the original Article Here
(IN THE PHOTO: Abate, El Shaarawy, Bonera and Van Bommel during the warm up)MILANELLO – No snow, but there was plenty of cold waiting for coach Allegri’s team at the Milanello sports centre where the team started work at 12 on the central pitch. After a good quarter of an hour’s warm up with the ball at their feet on the central pitch, the team worked on their tactics ahead of Sunday afternoon’s match against Napoli. First of all the team played a full 11-a-side game with a couple of the Primavera players using the whole pitch. The team then started using half the pitch with keepers Abbiati and Amelia. At the end of the session, Mesbah, Abate and Mai Lopez spent some time practicing their crosses. Besides the long term injuries, both Alessandro Nesta and Filippo Inzaghi both worked in the gym. Mathieu Flamini on the other hand is still working n his return. Today he followed his personalized training program doing some work with the ball on the outside pitches. Tomorrow’s training session, the last before Sunday is scheduled for 15.00 with Massimiliano Allegri holding his press conference beforehand.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - Mark Van Bommel on Wednesday evening in Rome reached 500 presences in European football. A real football legend with a career spanning twenty years of triumphs. The Dutchman has won 8 league titles: 4 in Holland with PSV, 2 in germany with Bayern Munich, 1 in Spain with Barcelona and of course last season with the Rossoneri. He’s also won another 10 titles between cups, super cups as well as the Champions League in 2006 with Barcelona not to mention the world cup final in 2010 between Holland and Spain. The General is one this sport’s true greats.
1992/93 Fortuna Sittard - 1 presences - 1 goal1993/94 Fortuna Sittard - 2 presences - 13 goals1994/95 Fortuna Sittard - 31 presences - 7 goals1995/96 Fortuna Sittard - 27 presences1996/97 Fortuna Sittard - 19 presences1997/98 Fortuna Sittard - 31 presences - 1 goal1998/99 Fortuna Sittard - 31 presences - 5 goals1999/00 PSV Eindhoven - 33 presences - 6 goals2000/01 PSV Eindhoven - 32 presences - 8 goals2001/02 PSV Eindhoven - 23 presences - 4 goals2002/03 PSV Eindhoven - 28 presences - 9 goals2003/04 PSV Eindhoven - 23 presences - 6 goals2004/05 PSV Eindhoven - 30 presences - 14 gol2005/06 Barcelona - 24 presences - 2 goals2006/07 Bayern Monaco - 29 presences - 2 goals2007/08 Bayern Monaco - 27 presences - 2 goals2008/09 Bayern Monaco - 29 presences - 2 goals2009/10 Bayern Monaco - 25 presences - 1 goal2010/11 Bayern Monaco - 13 presencesJanuary 2011 - Milan - 14 presences2011/2012 - Milan - 17 presences 500 GAMES AND 73 GOALS
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – San Siro in February. Calling all Milanistas!This is a huge month for the team:
SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY: MILAN-NAPOLI 15.00 – SERIE A
WEDNESDAY 8 FEBRUARY: MILAN-JUVENTUS 20.45 – ITALIAN CUP SEMI-FINAL
WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY: MILAN-ARSENAL 20.45 - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY: MILAN-JUVENTUS 20.45 – SERIE AFour enormous games with some of the world’s best players in the city. From Pirlo to Van Persie to Cavani, Hamsik and Lavezzi. Four chances for the clubs’ fans to really become the 12th man for the Italian champions. Huge teams in a huge stadium; the San Siro. Let’s fill it up for February!
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - Milan-Napoli on 5 February has been rescheduled due to the weather. The match will now kick off at 15.00 instead of 20.45. The club wishes to announce that all tickets sold are valid for the new kick off time and that the rescheduling of the game does not warrant a refund.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - The president of La Lega has released the rescheduled matches for this weekend. here are the changes:
Saturday 4 Febrauary 2012 CESENA – CATANIA 15.00 (Instead of 18.00)Saturday 4 February 2012 ROMA – INTER 15.00 (Instead of 20.45)Sunday 5 Febraury 2012 MILAN – NAPOLI 15.00 (Instead 20.45)
Read the original Article Here
With The TIM Cup now behind them and Saturday’s game against Chievo put off, the Primavera are working towards the Viareggio Cup which takes starts on Monday 6 February. The young Rossoneri have been drawn in Group B together with Parma, Modena and Gremio Osasco. “After the postponement of the match against Chievo, we’ve turned our attentions to the cup which is one of the two targets that we still reach this season” said Aldo Dolcetti. “We have another three or four training sessions to prepare for it. We’ll have to start the competition well to get through to the next round.” The cause will be helped by the addition of Philipp Prosenik who joins the Primavera squad. “I’ll see him today for the first time” said Dolcetti, “People have spoken well of him and I know that he had a bad knee injury but has come back without problems. The coach still has a couple of days left to decide on which players will make the trip. Rondanini and Speranza have still be looked at in terms of their fitness while Kingsley Boateng underwent an operation yesterday on his left leg ligaments which was a total success.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – Napoli’s official website announced that this morning the team trained with a warm down session after their match last night against Cesena. The players not involved last night played a practice match against the club’s Primavera side.Training tomorrow will be in the afternoon.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - "Playing Milan-Napoli at -8°? If the forecaast is okay then there's no problem, but if the previsions are what they say they are, maybe it would be a good idea to change the kick off time so as not to bring everyone to the stadium only not to be able to play. Even tonight, Novara-Chievo is not a sure thing." Damiano Tommasi, the president of the players' association spoke of the idea of postponing Milan-Napoli on Sunday evening.
Read the original Article Here
MILANELLO - Milan are already back to work at a snowy Milanello sports centre. 11 players are at work on the centreal pitch: Abbiati, Amelia e Roma, Inzaghi, Seedorf, Antonini, Mexes, Maxi Lopez, Zambrotta, Bonera and Thiago Silva.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – You can still place your vote for the perfect player at www.gazzetta.it and at www.legaseriea.it as part of the “Football’s Good feet” award. The Rossoneri are represented by Gianluca Zambrotta. The Gazzetta and the league have nominated 20 players for their contribution to social causes.The ceremony will take place on Monday 6 February in Milan at the Palazzo Mezzanotte next to the city stock exchange. All funds raised will go to charity and €2 donations can be made by anyone with a TIM cell phone or a fixed line via sms to the 45566.All Milan fans can are being called on to vote on both sites to make sure that Gianluca Zambrotta wins the prize that his charity work deserves.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN – Here are the post match reactions from players and staff after Lazio-Milan:
MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI"We didn’t need this result but it’s an example of how there are no easy games. We lost a similar game earlier, the derby. We didn’t take our chances and Lazio played a solid defensive game. We’ll have to do better in future.”CHRISTIAN ABBIATI"The ball for the fist goal went through Nesta’s legs and took me by surprise. They made the best of that chance. We tried to make some space and maybe we weren’t as clinical as we usually are. But the league is long and we have the chance to do better on Sunday against Napoli. We only have a point less that the first half of the season. We lost to Napoli then and if we win on Sunday we’ll be in the same situation as we were at the start of the season.” MAXI LOPEZ"We have to win against Napoli and then start again. We have a game every three days and we have to think about moving on and doing better. I’m very happy to have been included in the list of players for the Champions League. I’m training as hard as I can to be ready both in the league and the Champions League."
DJEMAL MESBAH"It didn’t go well and we’ve lost the game. There was the penalty incident that wasn’t given and we didn’t make the most of some of the chances we had. But now we have to start again from tomorrow. I tried to get a few crosses in but I lipped up a bit too often. I have to improve and now we need both character and competitiveness to win on Sunday"
MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI (PRESS CONFERENCE)"This result gives us something to think about. We definitely have to reflect on the fact that we lost here tonight. The penalty episode doesn’t change the team’s performance. We kept the ball well but we didn’t manage to open the game up. We conceded nothing before the goal but that’s not enough against the teams that are high up the table. Lazio have shown themselves to be a team that can fight for the top spots in Serie A and that can play football of a certain intensity. It’s normal that Ibra does the things he does because he’s an extraordinary player. “
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - Massimiliano Allegri has made his list of 25 players for the continuation of the Champions League action. Here are the players:Keepers: Abbiati, Amelia, Roma.Defenders: Abate, Antonini, Bonera, De Sciglio, Mesbah, Mexes, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Yepes, Zambrotta.Misfielders: Ambrosini, Aquilani, Boateng, Emanuelson, Merkel (lista B), Nocerino, Seedorf, Van Bommel.Attackers: El Shaarawy, Ibrahimovic, Maxi Lopez, Pato, Robinho.
Read the original Article Here
MILAN - Here are the results from Round 21 of the Italian top flight:NAPOLI-CESENA 0-0CAGLIARI-ROMA 4-2LAZIO-MILAN 2-0INTER-PALERMO 4-4UDINESE-LECCE 2-1NOVARA-CHIEVO (To be played tomorrow 20.45)PARMA-JUVENTUS (Postponed due to the weather)ATALANTA-GENOA (Postponed due to the weather)BOLOGNA-FIORENTINA (Postponed due to the weather)SIENA-CATANIA (Postponed due to the weather)
Read the original Article Here