Massimiliano Allegri insists he never had a problem with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and warns Milan “it’s all in our hands” ahead of the Lecce game.
Massimiliano Allegri insists he never had a problem with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and warns Milan “it’s all in our hands” ahead of the Lecce game.
There were reports of Ibra becoming furious at half-time when losing 3-0 to Arsenal in the Champions League this week.
“I do not have and never had a problem with Ibra,” assured the Coach. “Over the course of a year you can have some differences of ideas or some discussions that can also act as a motivating force during an important moment of the season.
“Ibra said nothing bad, it’s only normal that he has the same desire to win as I do, that we all do in the Milan locker room. The objective is to win. You can do it with all love and hugs, or through the odd argument, that doesn’t matter. We all work together for the final objective.
“Besides, the starting XI against Arsenal was forced upon me, as I had no other options. I thought the trio in attack could provide us with the goal that would kill off the tie, but instead there was a bit of suspence and we got to the quarter-finals in the end.”
Milan are top of the Serie A table and two points clear of Juventus, as the Bianconeri completed the missing fixtures that were snowed off last month.
“I am happy because after a long catch-up the lads are back on top. Now the difficult part arrives, as we have to stay there with calm and balance, taking it one game at a time. It’s in our hands now. We’ve got three competitions to deal with, so must keep fresh psychologically even more than physically.
“I am not worried about Lecce, although we respect them, as they got back into the race for safety since Serse Cosmi arrived and have a great young talent in Luis Muriel.
“There are only 12 games to go and after Palermo I didn’t expect to be on top with a two-point advantage.”
Alberto Aquilani made his comeback against Arsenal, but Allegri confirmed he won’t start with Lecce, while Sulley Muntari, Antonio Nocerino and Urby Emanuelson will play.
“The doubts are Djamel Mesbah, Luca Antonini or Gianluca Zambrotta, then Massimo Ambrosini or Mark Van Bommel.”