MILAN – The club’s CEO Adriano Galliani has spoken to the players ahead of the Christmas holidays. This is what he said to the squad:

“Lads, Merry Christmas from the heart, we’re not inferior to Roma or to any of the sides that are ahead of us. We’ve beaten Lazio, Napoli and we also did well against Juventus. I have to congratulate in particular the defence, no one realised that we were missing Alex, Abate, Rami and De Sciglio. Those that came in for them have played really well. Against Napoli and against Roma we showed we weren’t inferior. We have to qualify for the Champions League, best wishes and Happy Christmas.
2 seasons ago we had 30 points after the first part of the season, and then we amassed 42 in the second half of the season. We have to continue at the pace we had in the first 7 matches. To qualify for the Champions League, we have to collect more than 70 points. Against Napoli and Roma we collected 4 points which is perfect, if we keep this rhythm up for a few weeks we will climb back to the top. I didn’t know Bonaventura jumped that well, I have to congratulate him. If we remained in 11 against Roma then maybe…
In the next 3 matches we have Sassuolo at home, Torino away and Atalanta at home. My compliments to Mexes and Diego Lopez, an excellent goalkeeper, but I never had any doubts. I trusted above all what Villiam Vecchi told me. He said that the best one they had was Diego”.

Club skipper Riccardo Montolivo meanwhile has said the following: “We had to give a response to show we’re competitive, not just to ourselves. It’s obvious that these 2 matches aren’t enough, but we have to continue like this if we want to qualify for the Champions League.”