UEFA Champions League: Despite Qualifying, Allegri Wants AC Milan To Beat Ajax
AC Milan go into Wednesday's Champions League clash with Ajax in comfortable position.
With only Wednesday's match remaining in the six-game Group Stage, the Rossoneri have already qualified as a non-seeded team for the Round of 16.
Ajax will be playing for a spot in the UEFA Europa League after the winter break. They lead Auxerre for third place in the group by one point. Auxerre takes on Real Madrid in Wednesday's fixtures.
While Madrid are guaranteed first and Milan second, Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri says that his club will still be playing to win.
That being said, several regulars, including star goal scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, will be on the bench. Christian Abbiati has not even been included in the roster. Primavera stars Rodney Strasser, Alexander Merkel and Simone Verdi have been called into the squad.
“The game tomorrow is as important as the others, we have to approach it the right way," Allegri said.
"We’ll take to the field to win. Ibrahimovic will start on the bench, Gattuso certainly won’t play, neither will Zambrotta. If I’ll name someone in the starting line-up tomorrow, it won’t be to please him, absolutely not. We’ll need to try to win the game, considering that it won’t be neither a friendly, nor just a match amongst the squad. It’s a Champions League, we have to do our best."
Allegri also gave some hint as to how his club will deal with playing in three competitions.
Milan will enter the Italian Cup soon; they take on Bari in the Round of 16 with a to be determined date. Milan have a favorable path to the final. The fixtures in the bottom half include Palermo/Chievo, Parma/Fiorentina, Milan/Bari and Sampdoria/Udinese; however, Milan tend to put the Italian Cup on the back burner—Milan have not won the competition since 2003 and that was the first time since 1977.
Under Silvio Berlusconi, the tournament has not been important. Allegri thinks otherwise.
"Games like the one tomorrow," he said discussing the Ajax match, "serve as a good occasion to assess the team in view of the future. We must have the same attitude even when [we] play in the Italian Cup. When you have a competitive squad, and we certainly do, you always have to play to win."
Milan will be looking for better against Ajax than last time around. In Amsterdam, the Rossoneri settled for a 1-1 draw after a defensive lapse early on gave Ajax a quick goal. Ibrahimovic had to put a toe-lob over Maarten Stekelenburg on the brink of halftime for Milan to share the spoils.
Milan's 20-man roster looks slightly different than normal with some players being rested.
The roster includes the following players:
Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia, Flavio Roma
Defenders: Ignazio Abate, Luca Antonini, Daniele Bonera, Marek Jankulovski, Sokratis Papasthatopoulos, Thiago Silva, Mario Yepes
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Merkel, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, Rodney Strasser
Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Simone Verdi
