In one week, Conceiçao hit hard. With two stunning victories in Riyadh, against Juventus Turin (2-1) in the semi-final of the “Supercoppa Italiana”, then against Inter Milan (3-2) in the final, he ended three years of drought and offered Gerry Cardinalethe owner of Milan since June 2022, widely criticized by fans, a first trophy.
Better yet, the Portuguese technician who succeeded his compatriot Paulo Fonseca on December 30, seems to have brought back smiles and ambition to a club which is having a hard time finding itself in the shadow of its great rival, Inter. Thanks in particular to a few… dance steps, those that he performed, with a huge cigar on his lips, in the locker room of Al-Awwal Park after his team’s title.
“As soon as we got back into the locker room, the players asked me to dance and smoke a cigar, because they remembered that it was my ritual when I win a title“, explained the former coach of FC Porto (2017-24). If it is still much too early to say whether AC Milan have succeeded in their casting this time, Conceiçao, 50, seems to demonstrate that his method works. The Portuguese technician, who spent time between 1998 and 2004 in Serie A (Lazio, Parma, Inter Milan) when he was a player, did not revolutionize his team, aligning the same eleven type as its predecessor.
“Not here to make friends”
But he immediately changedtraining intensity: “The players, sometimes you have to shake them up, I’m not there to hug them, to smile and make friends. I’m here to win“, he warned.
-“It’s someone very demanding, attentive to the smallest detailwho has a huge desire to win”, confirmed Tammy Abraham, author of the winning goal against Inter, who led 2-0 in the final, before the Rossoneri’s surge. “As soon as he arrived, Sergio Conceiçao brought another energy“, we immediately felt the change”, added Rafael Leao, symbol with his six goals, and his appearances on the substitutes’ bench for Milan, inconsistent in the first part of the season.
Under the leadership of Fonseca, who arrived last June to replace Stefano Piolithe Lombard club won the derby against Inter (2-1) and taught Real Madrid a lesson in the Champions League at the Bernabeu (3-1). But he was also beaten by the promoted Parma (2-1), clearly tilted at home against Naples (2-0) or was held in check at San Siro by Genoa (0-0).
Result, the club nineteen “scudetti” et sept C1 enters the return phase in 8th place17 points behind the leader, Naples, with two games less. Conceiçao has no intention of letting his players rest on their laurels, while his managers try to get a loan from Manchester United Marcus Rashford. “After a title, they can lose motivation and become complacent. This will not happen, because we must show that we are winners,” he assured.
