Lucas Biglia is well-aware that Milan need to improve but believes beating Inter on Saturday would not be an upset.
Milan face Inter at Stadio San Siro on Saturday evening (20:45 CEST) for the first Derby della Madonnina of the season.
The Nerazzurri of Antonio Conte are currently at the top of the table after three matches, while Marco Giampaolo’s Milan started with a defeat but followed up on it with two rather unconvincing 1-0 wins.
Giampaolo has been strongly relying on last season’s squad, and Lucas Biglia could once again be preferred over new-signing Ismaël Bennacer for the regista role.
“How am I? I had to take a 20-day break after preparing well in the pre-season due to a slight physical issue,” Biglia told MilanTV. “I didn’t want to make the same mistake I did last year. I recovered in the first week of the season and was able to play against Verona. I will gradually return to my top form. As I said before, I need more playing time in order to return to full fitness and it is not easy in such a competitive squad. I have to make good use of every single minute given to me by the coach in order to return to full fitness as soon as possible.
“How am I experiencing this derby? It’s a derby. It happened in Verona though, we didn’t put in a good performance but, we won the game. This helps you to work more relaxed and all that counts is the three points. Surely, we will improve our performance as the season progresses. Obviously, it’s even better if we get the chance to win and continue working hard.
“What emotions am I expecting this match to stir up? They are all important and this one will be watched across the globe. We receive unexpected goodwill messages from all over the world. This shows the magnitude of Milan and this club will remain one of the most successful clubs in history. We weren’t able to win the derby last season, we hope to turn that around this year. It would boost our morale in order to continue working hard.
“What do I promise the Rossoneri fans? Failing to qualify for the Champions League was disappointing, and we hope to give our fans this joy, because the fans have always done their part, both at home and away just like in Verona. We hope to please our fans starting from this weekend.
“How can this derby be won? The desire is to keep winning. It’s very important, as well as honoring this club. Winning should be above everything else, also because Milan have to return to the Champions League. In time, we will certainly be stronger because we are constantly improving, and in order to get there, we have to win against direct rivals.”
Biglia also gave an interview to Sportmediaset this week: “The fact that Milan have not won a Derby in three years? It must be an incentive, because it gives continuity to the work, it gives you confidence in what you do, it gives more calmness in the work. We know that in Verona we didn’t have a great performance, but we won. In other years, games like that often ended in a negative result. So working with a positive result is easier, you do it more calmly. If you work with a negative result then you feel more weight on yourself.
“Boban said he expected more from the point of view of the play? We too know that we have not performed well. We were the first that, once we were back from the locker room, said ‘guys, good for the three points but we have to keep working’.
“If I believe in an upset against Inter? I don’t think it would be an upset. We must respect all opponents. The coach before the game in Verona told us ‘guys, today there are three points like those that could be next Saturday’. All teams must be respected because they can put you in difficulty. So the derby must be an extra incentive, winning a derby and continuing to work in this way leads must to have more certainty in what we work on.
“If it’s an advantage to play against an Inter without Mauro Icardi? No, no… they have two other strikers who are very strong like Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez. We want to pay attention to everyone, especially when dealing with a strong team.
“Piątek has unlocked? Better for us… I hope he continues to score and do more than last year.”
Milan !!!!
Hmm…Iolz
And we hope you play every game of this season! Every single game so Giampaolo Won’t have any excuses for his failure. Poor Milan 🙁
Maldini and boban have ruined milan. They picked giampaolo who clearly has no idea. I much rather gattuso and that was a mess honestly we had baka playing he was a beast. We have bennacer on the bench while biglia the turtle is playing. Inter ease destroy milan so we can fire this clueless manager and move on
Don’t play him
I wish I could see the embarrasment on your faces after Milan defeats Inter tomorrow. I know even if we beat Inter 4-0, you’ll still say Milan was lucky, the scoreline didn’t reflect the match, blah blah blah blah blah.