Ahead of Venezia’s Serie A match against AC Milan at a nearly sold-out San Siro, head coach Eusebio Di Francesco addressed the media in a pre-match press conference. The manager discussed his team’s preparation, injury concerns, and the challenge of facing Milan.
On the team’s preparation during the international break, Di Francesco said, “We’ve done excellent work and played a friendly with various workloads. We’re improving in physical condition and in understanding what we’re asking of the players.”
The coach revealed some injury concerns, stating, “We have some doubts for tomorrow, with minor issues to evaluate for Sverko and Altare. Bjarkason won’t be available as he’s had surgery, and Haps is also being assessed.”
Regarding the opposition, Di Francesco expects a determined Milan side: “We’ll face a Milan team eager to regain points they’ve dropped. They have many alternatives and important players. They’re struggling but if we look at the numbers, they’ve created the most goal-scoring opportunities.”
When asked about new signings, Di Francesco mentioned, “I saw Yeboah for the first time today. Caviglia has been training consistently and is improving in condition. Schingtienne and Sagrado are beginning to understand and increase intensity during training, but the field will give the final evaluations.”
On the transfer market, the coach expressed satisfaction: “We’ve added important characteristics, like Yeboah. We’ve brought back Busio, who can cover multiple roles for us. We lacked creativity, and we’ve added a bit of that.”
Addressing the challenge of limiting Milan’s left flank with Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao, Di Francesco said, “That’s where Milan expresses their major actions. I’ve tried to prepare the match in the best way to put them in difficulty or at least try to give them fewer opportunities, knowing that the quality is very high.”
The coach also emphasized the importance of maintaining focus in a packed San Siro: “My players will need the strength not to look around too much but to think only about the game.”
When asked about his approach to playing in front of 70,000 opposing fans, Di Francesco responded, “69,000, because 1,000 will be ours. They have their motivations, but we have ours too, otherwise we’d stay at home. We face a team we respect, but with the determination to play our game until the end.”
Finally, when informed that he’s on the verge of his 100th Serie A victory, Di Francesco said, “I’m not superstitious, otherwise you become weak. I like positive people. Yes, I know, and I’d like to get the hundredth. I’m working for that too.”
