The AC Milan head-coach has warned his team against complacency ahead of the second-leg at Emirates Stadium; hopes Ibrahimovic will win the golden ball this year.
The Rossoneri boss has called for determination from his players in the upcoming second-leg clash of the UEFA Champions League last 16 round against Arsenal.
Allegri believes that the Gunners are a dangerous side, and Milan will need to give their best to go through to the quarter-finals. The Italian Champions will go into the second-leg with a massive lead, after demolishing Arsenal
4-0 at San Siro a fortnight ago.
While talking to the press, the former Cagliari coach said:
“Tomorrow’s game could seem simple, but that is only how it appears. In reality, it won’t be like that. We’ll need to play with great determination to get to the quarter-finals.”
The Diavolo tactician also commended Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his phenomenal performances of late, and wants to see the Swede winning the Golden Ball award at the end of the season. Ibrahimovic is the joint top goal-scorer with 18
strikes in the 2011/12 Serie A. The former Barcelona star also has five goals to his name in Europe this season.
He believes that AC Milan are among the finest teams in Europe and Ibrahimovic is one of the best players in the world. Milan humiliated Palermo 4-0 in their recent league game, courtesy a brilliant hat-trick from Ibrahimovic.
The coach was all in praise for the in-form striker, stating:
“I hope that Ibrahimovic wins the Golden Ball, even if it will depend a lot on what we manage to achieve this year as a team. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Ibra are the best three players in the
world right now.”
While appreciating the Swede’s overwhelming performances, Allegri believes that the success of Milan is a team effort where no single individual, including the manager is indispensible.
“And in these 18 months we have won the Scudetto, the Italian Super Cup and we’re still fighting for three trophies this season.”
The second-leg will be played at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, 06 March.
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