Gennaro Gattuso said Milan shouldn’t “trust Atalanta or Gian Piero Gasperini” in poor form. “They press high and don’t let you breathe.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
On Thursday, the Rossoneri thanked Gonzalo Higuain for a hard-fought 1-0 victory in Luxembourg.
Gennaro Gattuso said Milan shouldn’t “trust Atalanta or Gian Piero Gasperini” in poor form. “They press high and don’t let you breathe.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
On Thursday, the Rossoneri thanked Gonzalo Higuain for a hard-fought 1-0 victory in Luxembourg.
“I was worried before the Dudelange game, because they didn’t get into the Europa League group phase by chance, so they were causing me a few concerns,” confessed the Coach in his Press conference.
“It’s not easy when changing nine of your starting XI to still do well, and we could’ve done better, but we had it all to lose in that situation. Perhaps some keyboard warriors thought we were supposed to win 7-0.
“Now we can focus on Atalanta. It’s no coincidence that Milan haven’t beaten Atalanta in four years, as they are really tough to break down and we’ll need a great performance.
“They’ve lost three competitive games in a row, which hadn’t happened in a long time, so they’ll want to get back on track. I don’t trust Gian Piero Gasperini and Atalanta, because they can change five players and still maintain the same approach. They press you high, they don’t let you breathe, so we have to keep up with them or we’re in trouble.”
Mattia Caldara finally made his Milan debut in the Europa League midweek, while Samu Castillejo, Pepe Reina, Diego Laxalt and Tiemoue Bakayoko also had their first starts.
“Caldara had a very good performance. Perhaps I am too demanding and ask for too much from my players. He works really hard and can give us a big hand. Could he start tomorrow? Why not?”
Gonzalo Higuain scored two of Milan’s last three goals and assisted the other, yet Gattuso told him off for always running to the penalty spot rather than being more unpredictable.
“In order to make the most of Higuain’s qualities, we need to lift our heads and pick out the right pass. If we start faffing about too much in the build-up, Higuain will get fed up and leave the area to find the ball.
“In this moment, I see Higuain as the best striker in the world. He has always scored goals in his career and we have to give him the right service. Suso needs to go for goal more often too, as he has a fine shot. He mustn’t just run with the ball to feet and look for the cross.
“Our biggest problem against Cagliari was the first 20 minutes, as something didn’t work between defence and midfield, creating a gap through the middle.”
Patrick Cutrone should be back in the squad after spraining his ankle on international duty, but Gattuso confessed the striker is too eager.
“He has a fitness test every afternoon and he really wants to come back, but that caused an argument too. I don’t like seeing players who try day after day and then step on to the field only to come off 10 minutes later. It’s not fair. These things take time and you can’t rush them.”