Bologna Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic jokingly claimed he would for once like to succeed Vincenzo Montella. “I generally leave him with half his work already done!”
It kicks off at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
Montella spent the years between 2012-15 in Florence and recently returned to replace Stefano Pioli, who was sacked earlier in the week.
Bologna Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic jokingly claimed he would for once like to succeed Vincenzo Montella. “I generally leave him with half his work already done!”
It kicks off at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
Montella spent the years between 2012-15 in Florence and recently returned to replace Stefano Pioli, who was sacked earlier in the week.
L’Aeroplanino has previously taken over from Mihajlovic at Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, and Milan and the two Coaches will face off today in the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
“There are so many cross-overs between us, he has trained almost all of the same teams as me. I would like to join a club after him for once, since I generally leave him with half the work already done on the physical and mental level!” joked the Serbian in his Press conference.
This will be Montella’s ‘debut’ on the Viola bench, but Mihajlovic expects no surprises.
“I know him well, he plays three at the back but defends with four, I can imagine what he will do based on what he has done elsewhere.”
The Rossoblu sits just two points above the relegation zone and Mihajlovic’s attention switched to his sides battle to avoid the drop.
“We have prepared ourselves well for this game and systems don’t count, but desire does.”
Mihajlovic spent a year in the dugout at the Artemio Franchi and admitted he didn’t know how the Viola fans would greet him on his return.
“I don’t know how they will react, but for me it will be strange to come back. I don’t know how they can complain about an owner like Della Valle, but some of them even complained about me when we won.
“It’s an open race. I think they can be stronger than what they were, but we will have to keep to our game-plan, as they have weaknesses that we can exploit.”
Mihajlovic spoke about his squad’s injury absentees and admitted that Mattia Destro, Federico Mattiello and Filip Helander would all miss out, but Federico Santander would be available to take some part of the game.
“From my first game, I picked a set up and then went to work on getting our minds right. I work 70% on my team and 30% on our opponents. Keeping the bar high is the only way to achieve the right result.
“In training, the intensity is perhaps even higher than in the game, but that is what I ask for. We have done a lot of mental work to make them aware that we can do it as both individuals and as a team.”