Rudi Garcia assures Roma will “go to win” against Milan tomorrow and “don’t lack ambition” for the Scudetto.
The Serie A Week 16 encounter kicks off at 19.45 GMT on Monday, click here for a match preview.
There is an extraordinary 19-point gap between the two teams going into this round.
Rudi Garcia assures Roma will “go to win” against Milan tomorrow and “don’t lack ambition” for the Scudetto.
The Serie A Week 16 encounter kicks off at 19.45 GMT on Monday, click here for a match preview.
There is an extraordinary 19-point gap between the two teams going into this round.
“Everyone knows Milan have players of a high level and you can’t qualify from the Champions League group phase without a strong side,” said Coach Garcia in his Press conference.
“We know that playing away to Milan is more difficult, but we will take our usual approach. We are going to Milan in order to win. It will be tough, but that is our ambition.
“We’re a long way from the end of the season and won’t think about what Juventus or any of the others are doing, so we focus only on our own results. We are ready after a great performance against Fiorentina and a good result at San Siro would be a further step forward.”
This week both Daniele De Rossi and Mehdi Benatia confirmed they’re dreaming of the Scudetto, so will Garcia drop his pretence the season target is to get back into Europe?
“We’ll see at the end. I will just say we’ll need a final sprint with the favourite teams, who are in my view Juventus and Napoli, but why put extra pressure on the team?
“We want to finish as high up the table as possible, even first, but we did not plan for this. It could still happen and we’ll do everything to get points, because we do not lack ambition. Perhaps I am the most ambitious of all.”
Miralem Pjanic sits out a ban, while Francesco Totti is expected to start at San Siro.
“We are a stronger team with Totti, but Francesco and Mattia Destro do not have a full 90 minutes in their legs. The captain gave his all in training this week and seems ready to help the team, though he is not yet at 100 per cent. This team is much better with its captain than without.
“As for Pjanic, maybe we are less technically strong without him, but we become physically more robust in midfield. Whoever comes into the side tends to do well, so it’s about the team rather than a single player.”
Milan will be without Stephan El Shaarawy and Ignazio Abate, though Mario Balotelli and Ricky Kaka are finding their form.
“They are great players, we all know that,” added Garcia. “Balotelli can score at any moment, while Kaka is a complete player and one I like very much. We must do everything to close down space around these players, but Milan isn’t just two men.
“Nothing changes for us, regardless of who we are facing. Roma play to win, hope it will be a great game and that we emerge with three points.”