Milan Coach Paulo Fonseca admitted he was slightly frustrated with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso and his comments about the Rossoneri during Champions League press conferences ahead of the two sides’ meeting at the BayArena on Tuesday.
Milan are on the pitch in Germany ahead of their second Champions League match of the season, which takes place at the BayArena in Leverkusen.
Why Alonso frustrated Fonseca with Milan comments
Alonso and Leverkusen vice-captain Jonathan Tah spoke about Italian teams and their tendency to be strong defensive units.
“They are ready to defend in depth,” Alonso saidwhile Tah added: “Italian teams are a difficult opponent for many teams. They have a particular style of play and defend very well, you will have to be very patient.
Fonseca, however, disagrees with this sentiment and instead wants Milan to create their own identity, moving away from stereotypes about Italian teams and their preference to focus on defense.
“Today I read what Xabi Alonso said. When we talk about Italian teams, we always say the same thing, that Italian teams are good in defense and counterattack.
“I would like different things to be discussed when we talk about Milan, we have to work because we don’t want to be seen like that,” Fonseca said during his press conference on Monday evening.
“Tomorrow, we will obviously have to defend, because we are playing against a strong team, but when we have the ball, we still want to play. I’m curious to see how the team performs in what will be a different match to the ones we’ve had in Serie A.
Despite his frustration, Fonseca recently spoke in depth about Milan’s need to improve the defensive elements of the game, while Rafael Leao revealed that the coach works very hard with him to help him get out of possession.
Click here to read what Leao said about Fonseca’s defensive coaching
