00:00 It was the end of November 2021 when Milan won against Atletico in the Metropolitano di Madrid.
00:07 And beyond the time and the eternal calendar of days, months and years,
00:13 that time, that night, that night, nothing ordinary had happened.
00:18 It was 12 years that the Rossoneri hadn't won a great game in a great stadium, on the way to the Champions League.
00:26 The last time was in Madrid, but the other Madrid, that of Bernabeu,
00:32 from Pato to Messias, always a Brazilian, always Milan.
00:37 In October 2009, Milan had won 3-2 on the field of Real, by Riccardo Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo.
00:44 One, two, three punches on the table, the pride of history, the charm of the DNA of the Alta Europa,
00:50 which becomes tangible even in a rich and capricious temple like the Madridista.
00:56 From that 3-2 on the field of Real, nothing of the same prestigious had happened
01:02 until the cross of Frank Kessy and the headbutt of Junior Messias,
01:07 in what we can easily define the environmental bulge with the black eye.
01:13 After the 3-2 signed by Pirlo and Pato, Milan had lost 4-0 to Old Trafford
01:18 against Manchester United in 2010, another 3-0 defeat at the London Emirates,
01:23 even though they qualified against Arsenal in 2012, and then that other 4-1
01:28 in another football and structural era on the field of Atletico Madrid,
01:33 which was still Vicente Calderon and not the Metropolitano.
01:38 Here's what that goal of Messias meant.
01:43 It wouldn't have brought Milan to the qualification for the Champions League round of 16,
01:47 but it was a real succession to the Champions League, in a great event,
01:52 within a framework at the height of the club's great historical achievements.
01:57 A victory that contained in its core not only a result and a technical and competitive performance,
02:03 but also human and life stories, as in the purest and most authentic Rosso Nera tradition.
02:10 A liberating goal, exultation and tears, like when there is the sun and when it rains at the same time,
02:16 all this in the words of Junior Messias.
02:20 I'm very happy, I'm very happy, especially for the victory,
02:24 because we needed Uegera in and out, and so, beyond the goal of the debut,
02:30 which for me is a very important thing, it came at the moment I needed it.
02:36 I was coming from a difficult moment, where I had two in a row injuries.
02:40 It was important to win, and we did, so we are still alive in the Champions League,
02:46 and we have to fight until the end.
02:48 How beautiful and gratifying it was, at that moment, and only at that moment,
02:52 to still be able to caress the dream until the last moment.
02:56 Like in Glasgow in 1969, like in Paris in 1995, like in La Coruña in 2001.
03:05 That 1-0 away in the Champions League of 2021 was the return on the scene of history
03:12 of the European Milan that never dies, that knows how to do certain things,
03:17 just when it is the only thing to do to stay alive in the league table,
03:22 or in the knock-out of the direct elimination.
03:25 In 2014, when Kaká and Balotelli were cut from the Atlético del Ciolo to Calderón,
03:32 the Real Madrid fans had sung, cheered and rejoiced from the start to the end of the match.
03:38 The goal of Messias, seven years later, had instead stunned Madrid in a win
03:45 that was also a hymn to the beautiful stories of football,
03:48 with the goal-win of Messias, who until six years earlier played among the entertainers.
03:53 In short, with work you can.
03:55 And that is precisely the meaning that attributed to that victory,
03:59 that night in the belly of the Metropolitan, Frank Cassi.
04:02 We are all happy with this victory because it was important for us.
04:07 Last year we dreamed of playing in the Champions League,
04:10 and this year we have arrived in the Champions League and we must show everyone
04:14 that we are working well and we can play with any team.
04:19 We, the players, follow the coach, we try to do everything the coach asks us to do.
04:25 We are working hard to play this type of game.
04:33 Atletico Madrid is a great team,
04:36 a team that has a lot of experience and has played in the Champions League.
04:42 Unfortunately, after a long time, we have returned.
04:46 Today it was important to fight for every ball, every contrast.
04:51 Because the coach said before the game that it is a very physical team
04:57 and we have to fight for every ball to try to win.
05:01 And we did it.
05:02 Despite the warm words of President Cassi,
05:05 it was not a simple night, that of the Metropolitan.
05:08 Teo Hernandez, whose fault it was to have played with the Real Madrid shirt,
05:13 was the subject of insults, whistles and complaints of disapproval by the rival people of Atletico.
05:19 All things that with his personality Teo challenged.
05:23 He, a competitive player, one who is about to get on the board
05:27 when the weather of the game throws a storm.
05:30 Teo challenged all this, all and all, with his football, his shots, his contrasts, his shots.
05:37 A tall and robust quirk named Teo,
05:40 who was able to protect and keep his friend Brahim in the shadows.
05:44 Even Diaz was lived, read and interpreted as one of the Real by Atletico fans.
05:51 But for him it was different.
05:52 He plays in the middle of the field, dribbles, flutters lightly, without challenging anyone.
05:56 And it is in those conditions that the malignant talent
05:59 was able to bring out a great performance in the heart of the black-belt system.
06:03 So, with his sparkling smile, with those eyes always vivid,
06:08 he spoke of Brahim at the end of Atletico Madrid-Milan 0-1.
06:12 It was the return of Milan to Europe, which in some historical circumstances
06:16 can be like the Germans of Rieneker.
06:18 Those who play, play and play, but in the end they always win.
06:23 I'm super happy, but I think I deserved the game,
06:26 I deserved everything we did together,
06:31 everything we did on the field,
06:35 we took advantage of this situation, this game and we deserve it.
06:40 We deserve it as the first game we played against them.
06:44 Diaz was bright at the Metropolitano.
06:46 He also knew well what moment Milan was experiencing even in the league.
06:51 The defeat of Florence 4-3 seemed to have recreated the atmosphere of the previous year around the Rossoneri.
06:56 A good start to the season before, a downfall then.
06:59 And instead, here is the European thrill, the deep autumn Rossonero
07:03 that manages to give a hot thrill like at the good times to the whole Rossoneri people.
07:07 It was a sign, the goal of Messi at the Metropolitano,
07:11 that all of Milan was good at catching, declining, grabbing, relaunching.
07:16 Two days after the game in Terra Colcionera,
07:19 here is the contract renewal of Stefano Pioli,
07:22 who tells all the Rossoneri fans how he prepares certain commitments and certain games.
07:28 I prepare, of course, taking care of all the details with the team and the players,
07:35 even until a few minutes from the start of the game.
07:39 I try to understand the players a little, especially at the mental level, how they are.
07:44 If I shake them a little, if I encourage them a little, if I calm them down a little.
07:48 The only ritual I have in the pre-match is coffee, then I get back to the preparation of the game.
07:55 With the signing of the Poi, Madrid 2021 was a general test,
07:59 a demonstration of mentality, a polar star of the strength of the group.
08:04 Because with the signing of the Poi, if at the end of that season Milan had won the Scudetto,
08:09 a piece of the soul of that triumph had been built in the extra-league territory,
08:14 in the Champions League, in a Champions League group that would not have qualified Milan,
08:18 but that tempered the morale and strength of the whole group.
08:22 The words of Stefano Pioli at the Metropolitano were not only those of a happy post-match after a victory,
08:28 but they were rolling up a manifesto that would have been admired by everyone a few months later,
08:34 in a stadium near Parma, near La Mamma, by Reggio Emilia.
08:39 I think that the most important thing for the team today, for the whole group that was here in Madrid,
08:45 is that we experienced this game with an important mental intensity, with an absolute participation.
08:52 It is fair to rejoice because we won a very difficult and very demanding match,
08:58 on a field where the Italians had almost never won, if not in Parma in 1998-99.
09:05 It is clear that it is a great satisfaction.
09:08 We must have great balance, we must not exalt ourselves too much,
09:14 but a match like this, against opponents like this, with such a high level,
09:19 must make us understand even more that with the right attention,
09:24 with the right behavior, with the right ideas, we can be a strong team.
09:29 [Music]
09:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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