Fonseca: ‘Milan showed courage, Real Madrid easier than Monza’ | OneFootball

Paulo Fonseca feels Milan conquered Real Madrid because they showed ‘courage’ and no fear, but also insists it is in some ways ‘easier’ to play in the Champions League than Serie A.

Club owner Gerry Cardinale was in the stands and went into the locker room to congratulate everyone after a dominant performance at the Bernabeu, which was sealed by Malick Thiaw’s header, Alvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders around a Vinicius Junior penalty.

“I think we won because the players had the courage to come here and play their game, without being afraid of anything,” Fonseca told Sky Sport Italia.

“We wanted to keep the ball, we did great things in the first half and then struggled a little more after the break, but we did it together and totally deserved this victory. It’s not just because we scored three goals, but also we played with a lot of quality.”

Fonseca said when he first joined Milan that he wanted to change the way that Italian teams are seen in Europe, so does he think that he achieved that this evening with this coup at the Bernabeu?

“I do not agree when people say Italian football is defensive. We can be a team with more initiative and dominance of the match in Europe, these are the characteristics of the team. We proved that Italian teams don’t just defend, we played the ball and had great positioning. The side has the patience to keep the ball, picking the right moment to attack.

“We must continue to improve, as we have a lot of potential.”

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Fonseca admits Milan only have one Morata

epa11703729 AC Milan’s Alvaro Morata (2-R) celebrates with teammates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and AC Milan, in Madrid, Spain, 05 November 2024. EPA-EFE/Juanjo Martin

Morata started the match as the centre-forward and scored the second goal on the rebound from a Rafael Leao strike, but Milan do not have someone who can do the same job.

“Abraham is a player with different characteristics. Alvaro has this ability to connect the midfield with the attack, whereas Abraham does not have those qualities. When Morata came off, it’s true that we stopped having so much of the ball,” confessed Fonseca.

“However, Alvaro was really tired and we needed to make the chance. Abraham does work well defensively and holds up the ball, but naturally he is not the same as Morata.”

Noah Okafor also came off the bench in the final stages and seemed to be given more instructions than anyone else by Fonseca on the touchline. Did he not have the right attitude?

“It was during the period of the strongest Real Madrid pressure. We must not forget that Real Madrid overturned a lot of results in the closing stages, they were losing 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund and beat them 5-2.

“We tried to defend better as a team, but also lost quality in controlling the ball in those moments when we had the extra spaces to strike on the counter-attack. Nonetheless, it was still a deserved victory.”

The tactical key this evening was using Yunus Musah on the right side of the supporting trident, who effectively became an extra full-back to protect Emerson Royal and deal with Vinicius Junior.

Fonseca was asked if he expected a Milan performance of this level so few days after the disappointing showing to beat Monza 1-0, but hit back by insisting Serie A was underrated.

“Honestly, I have to look at the overall context. For the way I like to play my football, these are games with more space to play in. People outside of Italy do not understand how tough it is in Serie A. Monza man-mark, Cagliari up next will man-mark, you will see that Atalanta were the only team who managed to beat Bayer Leverkusen last season and they man-mark.

“It is honestly more difficult to play in Serie A than it is in the Champions League because of these tactical issues. It is easier for us to play tonight, even if it was against Real Madrid the best team in the world, because it is completely different,” insisted Fonseca.

“This might be why in Italy the games are not as entertaining, but it’s because they are really difficult.”

Milan lost the first two Champions League games, but are now climbing the table with six points from four matches, having beaten Club Brugge 3-1 and Real Madrid by the same result.