Ac Milan are through to the knock out stages of UEFA Champions league, finishing second behind Malaga in group c. Milanhost Zenit tonight in the final round of the group stages knwoing that the match result wont affect their Champions league Campaign.
Talking to the press ahead of the game, Milan defender Mario Yepes claimed that they will do what it takes to honour the Milan shirt.
“Winning the game tomorrow against Zenit is the best way to honour the Milan shirt. We have to play every game the best way we can. Every game has to be the game of our lives; the game that changes things. In Serie A we still have to collect some important points to keep on climbing as far up the table as possible.”
“This match is important even though we’ve already qualified for the next round. When the individuals grow, then the squad also grows. We have to continue our streak of positive results. The idea is to win every match that we play. I wouldn’t say that we’re disappointed with what we have achieved so far in the Champions League. We are happy with our Champions League campaign so far. We are through to the next round and we had a difficult group, with Malaga doing really well in Spain, and Zenit are coming off some good seasons in Russia. We will soon see who we will face in February.”
“I’m very happy for El Shaarawy and De Sciglio. I’m sure that they know how to handle themselves. El Shaarawy is handling all the compliments that he’s receiving well. He’s not getting big-headed. The youngsters at Milan are doing well. The older players have to stay close to them and help them. I hope that El Shaarawy can continue like this, but we must not put too much pressure and responsibility on them.”
“We need to work harder and be more attentive, especially when defending. We have conceded many goals from set-pieces. You need to keep on working on committing as few errors as possible. Football is like that. We have conceded fewer goals after switching to zonal marking. We hope that we can do better now.”
“The atmosphere in the squad has always been good. We have always enjoyed working together. We are a united squad. We have been united during difficult times, and we must continue to be united now in order to keep this streak of positive results going.”
“Montolivo? He’s a great guy. He has setted in well, both on and off the pitch. He has a good future ahead of him. He can do very well for this club. He was one of the good signings that Milan made.”
“The Juve match was important. We beat the strongest team, and they hadn’t lost an away match for a long time. What we did against Juve made us understand that we can beat anyone. We must remember the good things that we did in that match to continue to do well in the upcoming matches”, concluded Yepes.
Here is the Interview: