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00:00Good morning everyone, I apologise first and foremost for the delay, a little bit of unforeseen
00:08circumstances.
00:09We'll try and have a brief presser once again because the gaffer's still got a bit of fever.
00:14We'll start the questions with the Corriere della Sera.
00:18Good morning gaffer, I'm over here, I'd like to start by asking you how you are first and
00:24foremost because I heard you cough there.
00:28How are you?
00:30And how are the team looking?
00:34Because I heard that some of the players haven't necessarily been well over the last few days.
00:38What have you made of the time since the semi-final?
00:42Good morning everyone, I apologise for the delay, to echo what Nicola said.
00:49I hope the team are better than I am because I'm not particularly well.
00:56We are preparing for the game, for the final, against an Inter side who are a top team and
01:07over the last few years they've become very accustomed to winning with the same head coach,
01:12with a number of players that have been playing together for a long while and that's great
01:19for Inter.
01:20But we need to look at us, at ourselves, sure.
01:25It is very difficult but when the going gets tough we all need to stand up and be men,
01:31we all need to take on board that responsibility because we mustn't forget that we've had one
01:36less day in terms of recovery compared with Inter.
01:40We mustn't overlook the fact that we have four or five players that have also picked
01:45up injuries and aren't necessarily 100% fit.
01:51That is a fact, I don't want to look for excuses, you won't hear me talk about this come the
01:58end of the match, whether we win or whether we don't, but that is the situation at hand.
02:04Let's go to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
02:07Hi coach, with Porto you were involved in a number of finals, you've been involved in
02:12a whole host of important games, this is your first important match since you've taken charge
02:19of Milan, coming up against one of your former clubs during your playing career, does that
02:25mean anything?
02:27Does it make it any more special this match?
02:30No, I've got the utmost respect for all of the teams that I represented as a player.
02:39We come up against Juventus, my son plays for Juventus and it's the same feeling for
02:46me whatever the opposition I come up against.
02:51I do have a special bond for my players, I've got a great deal of desire to prepare the
02:58game well so that the players know exactly what they need to do tomorrow in order to
03:04succeed in beating a top side in the shape of Inter.
03:09That's the most important thing, that's all I've got in my mind, it's our belief, our
03:14ambition, they really need to be the foundations, the ambition, the desire, that will to win.
03:24It's quite a short route to a piece of silverware, it's only two matches, we've already taken
03:28one step, we've now got another step to take, I hope that things go well, we have a lot
03:35of confidence, however as I said earlier on there are issues, but that's part and parcel
03:40of life and often amidst the difficulties that's when you find some wonderful things.
03:48Good morning, I wanted to ask Tijani Reinders whether coming from behind to beat Juventus
03:55with that great showing of character gets you a bit, brings you into this final with
04:00added motivation and a question for the gaffer, I wanted to ask you, Simone Inzaghi in his
04:07press conference referenced Sven-Joran Eriksson as your mentor, there are at least seven or
04:14eight coaches from that Lazio side and you're often very good coaches, you've won a great
04:19deal, what did those common origins with Eriksson mean to you, how important was it?
04:29You won against Juventus, you started conceding a goal, then you had a strong reaction and
04:49finally you won, this reaction is good for your attitude, you feel good after that, you
04:59think you can achieve a good result in the final starting from that good attitude that you had?
05:08Yes, I think the first half we weren't aggressive enough in our pressing or when we had the
05:17ball we didn't try to risk for an attack and the second half we showed that we can
05:26give a lot more aggressivity in the game and I think the second half we worked harder,
05:37we created more chances and we should bring that to the game tomorrow.
05:47I've had a host of excellent head coaches and Sven-Joran Eriksson really left his mark
05:58with all of us, he had a wonderful relationship with all of the players, I never saw him get
06:06angry, he only just went red in the face and blushed, Sven has a place in my heart and
06:16all of the players in that team have Sven in their heart.
06:19I had Rigo Sacchi, I had Alberto Malesani, I had a whole host of excellent Italian head
06:24coaches, it was a really wonderful coaching school for me, even Italy as a country I always
06:31say it's my second home because I came here as a young man, I had some wonderful times
06:36in this country and now it's a privilege and an honour to be here in front of you and to
06:42be head coach of a historic team like Milan, it really is a wonderful feeling, it was a
06:52very important period of my life as a professional and I met some wonderful head coaches during
06:56that time too.
06:57Good morning everyone, a question for both of you, Tijani, very quickly, on Friday you
07:04saw Stefano Pioli and he said that you never scored under him, was it nice to see Pioli
07:11again, especially given how many more goals you've scored and a question for the head
07:15coach?
07:16Maybe I'll ask it a bit later on.
07:17It was nice to see Pioli again, we had a little joke between each other, I think maybe you
07:26saw what he said, but for me I have good feelings with Mr Pioli and last season I played more
07:36from the number six, so I had less opportunities to go in front of the goal of the opponent
07:47and this season I play more up front and I can find the net much more often luckily.
07:58And a very simple question for the head coach, how is Rafael Lial, could he be on the bench
08:02tomorrow?
08:04We have a training session this afternoon and we'll assess things then, we'll see how
08:07he is.
08:11He certainly doesn't have 90 minutes under his belt, I need to try and manage his game
08:14time.
08:15First and foremost I need to see if he is available for selection, once I've done that then we'll
08:20decide whether or not he plays.
08:24This afternoon we have a training session and you'll see tomorrow when the team news
08:30breaks.
08:43Question for the head coach.
08:51Have you spoken to your colleague Herrera about Saudi football?
08:58Have you spoken to your nutritionist, Victor Teixeira?
09:16Yes of course I speak to the nutritionist, he's a very important figure in our set-up.
09:20Weight, nutrition, recovery, all of these factors are very important for me because
09:30this is elite football and the players need to not necessarily be at 100%, they need to
09:35be at 1000%.
09:36Who is he, a friend of the nutritionist?
09:40This would be your first major trophy in club football, let alone in an AC Milan shirt.
09:51How special would it feel to win the Super Cup in an AC Milan shirt in Riyadh?
09:56It's a big opportunity, it's my first chance to win a big trophy and tomorrow I have to
10:05play like it's my last game.
10:07I think we all should do that, it's a nice chance for us as a group to win a trophy like
10:14this and from that we have to go on also in the league and in the Champions League.
10:20So it's a good opportunity to change things.
10:25Tijani, at the end of the match with Juventus we see you make a circle and Ismail was speaking
10:43to you, is this the spirit which was maybe missing in the last few weeks at the beginning
10:49of the season?
10:54The spirit was always there but I think we have to gain more confidence in our group
11:02and the win against Juve gave us a good boost and we have to keep going on from that.
11:12We have to feel like family together in this team and I think that was a good sign from
11:18us to each other that we are family and that we want to work for each other.
11:23Are you considering yourself lucky to start with Milan, first face Juventus and then face Inter?
11:42No, you don't get good luck unless you work to your utmost of your ability, you also need
11:48a bit of good luck and the rub of the green in life but you only get lucky if you work
11:52very hard, if you're a professional, if you have a great deal of desire, then yes, otherwise
12:00you can be the most faithful person in the world and you might actually, if you don't
12:09buy a lottery ticket and you pray that you'll win the lottery, you'll never win it, you
12:12actually need to go out there and buy a ticket.
12:14We need to do that, we need to have that desire, that hunger, the organisation and of course
12:20you need a little bit of the rub of the green too.
12:23Are you disappointed with my answer?
12:24Are you disappointed with my good luck?
12:26Ah, is he a Juventus fan, this guy?
12:28No.
12:29No?
12:30Okay.
12:31Gazzetta dello Sport.
12:33Hi Gaffer.
12:34I'm over here.
12:35Good morning.
12:36Gazzetta dello Sport.
12:40What's your relationship with Simone Inzaghi?
12:43I think that you guys get on very well even though you haven't necessarily spoken according
12:47to him since 2023.
12:49Was that a mistake, the fact that you didn't shake his hand, that game between Inter and
12:53Porto?
12:54Will you shake hands?
12:55Will you embrace one another?
12:57Absolutely.
13:00There are situations which happen during matches but that all stays on the pitch.
13:05Once the game is over, it's finished there.
13:06There wasn't a lack of respect, we're two men who played together, we like one another,
13:15he'll be my friend both before and after the game but during the game he'll be my opponent
13:19Thanks very much everyone.