Milan defender and England International Fikayo Tomori has recently revealed all about life in Milan, The Rossoneri’s remarkable Champions League journey so far and how the team are preparing to face Inter in a recent feature interview with the Times.
After last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, the former Chelsea academy player has now racked up over 100 appearances for Milan, an achievement for which he was presented a commemorative medal by Paolo Maldini at Milanello.
“Paolo is such a huge figure, not just in Milan,” Tomori said. “So for him to give it to me and to say those things — on top of me having 100 appearances for Milan — is a moment I will always treasure.”
“Italians take huge pride in defending. When I came to Milan, I saw the museum, and saw pictures of people like Costacurta, Baresi, Paolo’s dad, Paolo himself, Jaap Stam, Nesta, and saw the trophies they won, I thought, ‘Wow, this is the level of defending.’
“That motivates me to take on as much as I can from the way they defend to improve myself. It’s great to play for a club that’s had so many great defenders.”
Playing under Stefano Pioli has also been a learning curve for the 25-year-old centre-back.
Tomori explained: “He is very particular in where he wants me to be in relation to the ball, standing on which side of their striker. It’s been a real education,” Tomori says. “If I make a mistake, the manager takes me through it, he’s been a really big help in me improving.”
One of the personal highlights of Tomori’s season has to be his man of the match performance against Tottenham in the Champions League Round of 16, during which he was tasked with keeping England captain Harry Kane quiet.
“That particular situation I remember really well, I wanted to show him down the line, block the pass and then when I got the opportunity just nip in. I know Harry really well from playing with him and playing against him. Harry’s a very, very clever player. If you don’t defend well against him, or dive in, he can just knock it past you or play a good pass behind you.
“When it comes to Champions League nights, like at Tottenham, it’s having that diligence, that determination to say, ‘They are not going to score today’.”
The Champions League journey has arguably been the most exciting part of Milan’s season after Napoli began to run away with the league midway through the 2022-23 season.
However, the Rossoneri put in a mature set of performances over the recently-crowned Italian champions over two legs of the Champions League quarter-final to set up a Derby della Madonnina in the semis.
“We managed to keep Osimhen quiet, then last minute he scored,” Tomori explained. “He’s very dynamic, and for a defender he’s very annoying to play against.
“He just doesn’t stop running. Every time I received the ball, he’s coming to press. He’s so good in the air, if you let him get a jump on you, you know he’s likely to win it. The ball’s with their centre back, and suddenly he’s running in behind. He’s the kind of striker you don’t want to play against as he never gives you a minute’s rest. He keeps going and going. He’s a top, top striker.”
After an important clash with Lazio in Serie A on Saturday, attentions in the Rossoneri camp will be fully focussed on the clash against Inter, scheduled for this Wednesday.
“Fans outside the training ground, or if I’m walking around the city, they say ‘Come on, let’s go, the derby. The derby is coming’. Our fans are definitely ready. It’s going to be a really intense match-up. It is difficult to shut them (Inter) out, but we managed to shut Napoli out. We know we can do it,” Tomori said.