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Spalletti: ‘I have great esteem for Paolo Maldini’

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Luciano Spalletti says he holds Paolo Maldini in great esteem despite their recent spat and explained why Napoli have enough quality in their team, even without Victor Osimhen. The two Serie A sides face off tomorrow evening, just weeks after the Rossoneri travelled to the Stadio Maradona and delivered a surprise 4-0 defeat to the Partenopei. Speaking ahead of their Champions League quarter-final clash, Spalletti explained what it takes to win at the San Siro, how the absence of Osimhen can;t phase his players, and why his words about Pep Guardiola may have been misinterpreted.:

“Winning at the San Siro? I think it’s the constant work you have to do on a team to make it strong, to have a mentality in such a way that you don’t distinguish which field is worse or better. A champions mentality to go out and play to always get the best result. In spite of who we have in front of us and where we’re going to play, it’s a growth to secure important results.”

“Osimhen’s absence? The strength of a team is never a bare addition of team members. But of qualities, of how they can coexist with each other, team behavior. And our team has shown that it can play beyond the starting lineup. We have won important games even without Osimhen. I expect those who go on the pitch to have the confidence of their teammates and their own.”

“Raspadori? He only did a workout today, not very deep. He will be evaluated in the morning to have him do further tests and then we will choose who will play in that position.”

“The importance of the match? These are the matches that erase a lot of things, where all the players through importance can recognize what is needed. If you think that a league match only interests Milan and Napoli fans, a Champions League match interests fans all over the world, and the players also involuntarily suffer this a little bit.”

“The most important match of my career? I hope there are others more important than this one. We are at a very high point in our career, I speak for myself but also for my players. We have to bring the desire, the enthusiasm from where we started. When you go to play these Champions games you go to play in stadiums of teams that seem tough, but we have shown we can do well and I expect the boys to do the same tomorrow. And then we have to have fun, we have to enjoy everything in amplitude, even the eve dinner.”

“Maldini? I think I don’t have to say anything to Paolo because of the esteem I have for him, because it starts from afar. With the cameras you catch every detail but these are very normal locker room things. When I was at Zenit and I had the opportunity to decide the names of the people I was asked for an international profile to go and give more visibility to the club. I mentioned the name of Paolo Maldini and they were delighted. They asked me to contact him, I did, but he did not accept. This is to highlight the esteem I have for the person, for the footballer. I made a post on Instagram, from June 2020, where I wrote, “The beat of football will be beautiful even from home, I will see it from the Scala del calcio” next to a staircase and to make this post I put jerseys, the ones closest to me are those of Maldini and De Rossi. In closing, it was a regret for me not to have spoken with Maldini at the end of the match.”

“Evaluations? Instead of taking risks, we made evaluations, thinking about the next games. Given that this is the competition of champions, champions don’t cry over themselves. And we have plenty of champions. Then there is  emotionality and character that can sometimes shift, but I know this team tomorrow night will do everything to be better than Milan. Tough match, we were not the strongest 15 days ago, we are not the weakest now. We will play a lot for the future of all of us and we will be ready.”

“Guardiola? I understood his response was that the words I said were not interpreted for the way I wanted them to be understood. When I talk about Guardiola, I have to stand up (he stands up. ed). He is one of the coaches I watch constantly. If my words did not have the effect I wanted, I apologize to him because I am pleased if someone like him speaks well of Napoli. I would have to take days to talk about his teams, I would speak well of them anyway. If we then talk about Napoli having to win the Champions League then I say that we don’t have the anxiety of having to prove that we have to win the competition. Now we have to have fun, of course maintaining that posture and pride that we deserved on the pitch. I hope we can have a laugh with Guardiola about this talk over a good Turkish coffee.”

 

 

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