Sandro Tonali assures Zlatan Ibrahimovic deserves to be the captain of Milan against Udinese this evening. ‘He is still a talent. We needed him and he needed us.’
It kicks off at the Dacia Arena at 19.45 GMT.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
“We are coming off two tricky games in Serie A, we want to change the trend and get back to winning ways,” Tonali told Sky Sport Italia.
On Friday the Champions League draw put Milan up against Napoli in the quarter-finals, with then Inter or Benfica in the semi-final if they progress.
“There is a distinction between Serie A and the Champions League. It’s not easy, but we must do that because we are top level players.
“We have to draw a line under the last test and start from scratch, focus on the next. Today there is Udinese, then we’ll think about what is to come.”
There is a big change this evening, as with Olivier Giroud suspended, Junior Messias injured and Theo Hernandez at home suffering from flu, the Rossoneri have given Ibrahimovic his first start in over 400 days.
On top of that, the 41-year-old is also handed the captain’s armband, even though Ismael Bennacer was supposed to be next in line for seniority and games for the club.
“It is fundamental that he is at 100 per cent and fully involved in the team. He is still a talent, still has a lot of quality and can help us this evening,” added Tonali.
“He deserves to wear the captain’s armband because he was out for such a long time, but we needed him and he needed us.”
The last time Ibrahimovic started a competitive match for Milan was the 0-0 draw with Juventus on January 23, 2022.