On Sunday morning, the Italian media sounded optimistic about the return of Ismael Bennacer to AC Milan’s squad. It was claimed he underwent a full group training session, and that was a very good sign of his potential appearance against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League this week.
However, as Rossoneri manager Stefano Pioli today held a press conference, he was asked about the midfielder and didn’t have a good response about that. According to him, the player remains ruled out of the game.
“Bennacer trained with us yesterday, but he’s not at 100% and we can’t risk him, so he won’t be in the match,” said Pioli (via Calcio Mercato).
“He’s a very good coach who prepares matches well. With the characteristics of English football, pace, physicality and quality. It’s a difficult challenge but it’s inevitable that it will be like this for a Champions League’s round-of-16. Conte is a great coach and he was one of the few colleagues to call me to congratulate me on the Scudetto. I was very pleased.”
The Milan coach was also asked to compare Italian and English football.
“On an economic level, there is no game. Then you can go on culture, on many other aspects, but this is not the moment.”
Sunday’s report claimed that just like Bennacer, Fikayo Tomori had also returned to training. And even though the midfielder is now ruled out, the latest reports from Italy say the defender is set to play, as he trained on Monday as well.
So that’s one less headache for Pioli ahead of such an important match.
