AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori insists that the squad are ‘here to make history’ and that they can overturn the deficit to knock Feyenoord out.
Milan have given themselves the task of doing something that they haven’t done since the 2006-07 season: to come from behind and win a two-legged tie. in the Champions League.
Feyenoord took the first game 1-0 after Igor Paixao’s shot three minutes in found a way past Mike Maignan, and then a heroic defensive effort from the home side kept the Rossoneri out at De Kuip.
The mission for Milan now is to win the game by at least one goal in order to ensure that they are not the subjects of an upset early on in the knockout stages of the competition.
Tomori spoke to Sky on the eve of the game to offer his thoughts ahead of the second leg, and he insisted that the team are ready for the comeback mission. MilanNews relayed his comments.
Are you ready?
“Yes, not just me. We know very well that Milan has a history in this competition. Tomorrow [today] we have an opportunity to do well. The Champions League is always special. We must approach it with a winning mentality that is suited to our history.”
Do you feel better with Conceiçao’s style of defending?
“Obviously the coach now has his ideas on where I should be. I would say that we are more aggressive now. The coach wants us to go out to the attackers to force them into mistakes.
“I like to defend like this. With Fonseca I tried to do what he wanted, sometimes I succeeded and sometimes I didn’t. Football is like that, I always tried to do the best for myself and for the team.”
Have you ever thought about leaving Milan?
“No, I spoke to the people I had to speak to. But in the end I am the one who comes to the training ground every day, and here I feel good, I feel at home.
“In these four years I have won two trophies, we could have won more. Now we have a stronger team, I feel good here. As long as they don’t tell me to leave, I’m happy here.”
What is it like having Kyle Walker here?
“He has integrated well. I see many players like he did at City, he has experience and quality. He has played decisive matches in his career. He has brought us his experience. We are happy to have him, he has immediately brought his ideas to the dressing room.”
Four forwards: yes or no? What do you think?
“We want to win, be that with two, three or four forwards. The only thing that matters is winning and getting a result. If one day we have four, another day we have three. We want to win and to win we have to run, as the coach says. We have to do our best, regardless of the system.”
Can you do it?
“Yes, we are here to make history. We lost the first leg but we are in front of our fans. These are the games I want to play.”
