Alessandro Florenzi knows the Champions League trip to Newcastle United is ‘all or nothing’ for Milan, but insists they won’t know their real ambitions until March or April.
The Rossoneri remain in third place in Serie A regardless this weekend, even after the 3-2 defeat to Atalanta in Bergamo, but are sliding further and further away from Inter and Juventus at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, they must put all their focus on the visit to St. James’ Park on Wednesday, as only a victory and PSG also losing to Borussia Dortmund will keep them in the Champions League.
“Hope springs eternal,” Florenzi told DAZN when asked about the situation.
“It is an all or nothing match. If we win, at the very least we can guarantee a place in the Europa League, which is still an important competition, and Milan could have our say in that tournament.”
The teams that finish third in the Champions League group go into a play-off in February with one of the sides that are runners-up in their Europa League group.
When asked whether Milan can now kiss goodbye to any dreams about the Scudetto, Florenzi insisted it was still early days.
“We had a clear objective when we got together over the summer, and that was to be competitive on all fronts. We know that it’s in or out on Wednesday, either Europe or just focusing on Serie A.
“I tend not to really look at the table until March. I feel that towards March or April is where I understand what the ambitions of the team can be. Obviously, we do also start the season with high ambitions.”