Milan full-back Ignazio Abate says they want to win the Derby della Madonnina for the club’s fans.
The Rossoneri face local rivals Inter on Sunday night in the Milan derby, a game in which the loser would be all-but guaranteed no European football next season.
“It won’t be the same derby of a few years ago,” Abate admitted to Sky, recalling the days when the fixture would have been a Scudetto showdown.
“But we won’t be lacking in motivation. We want to bring happiness the the club and our fans.
Milan full-back Ignazio Abate says they want to win the Derby della Madonnina for the club’s fans.
The Rossoneri face local rivals Inter on Sunday night in the Milan derby, a game in which the loser would be all-but guaranteed no European football next season.
“It won’t be the same derby of a few years ago,” Abate admitted to Sky, recalling the days when the fixture would have been a Scudetto showdown.
“But we won’t be lacking in motivation. We want to bring happiness the the club and our fans.
“We have to play the game without getting ahead of ourselves, or defending too deeply.
“They’re a good team with good players, and up front they have great finishers like [Rodrigo] Palacio and [Mauro] Icardi, so we’ll have to be very careful.”
The Italian international has captained the side in the absence of Riccardo Montolivo, but Abata insists he’d rather have the midfielder on the pitch.
“For me it’s an honour to be captain, but let’s not forget that Montolivo is the captain. We’ve missed him a lot this season, and I hope he’ll return in the next few games.
“That would help us a lot.”