UDINE - No goals in the first half at the Friuli stadium between Milan and Udinese. The Rossoneri had the best chances before the break, but neither Pazzini nor Zapata were able to break the deadlock. Scuffet was called several times into action, while Heurtaux produced a fantastic block to deny Muntari.

MILAN – This is what coach Filippo Inzaghi had to say after the Primavera’s victory in Milan-Varese earlier today:"Varese today had players from their First Team. Forte plays with the First Team, while Barberis has played in Serie C. They’re a good team. We tried to play our game but conceded a dubious penalty and we made things hard for ourselves. We had a valid goal by Pinato ruled out for offside, there was a lot of confusion. After half an hour I changed the formation and it went better. I pushed Pinato forward, put Mastalli at right-back and Pedone in front of him. Then Vido scored two top goals. Vido was born in 1997 so is young but he was very good. Today there were four players who are of Allievi age. I think this is a great source of satisfaction for the entire Milan Youth Sector. To finish the match with players that young is very satisfying. We’ve now got to get our energy back and rest up.We were short on players. Di Molfetta was out along with Petagna who is injured. We had spells of prolonged possession and good build up play. We could have even scored a fourth goal. We suffered, which is normal. If Varese were to always play with these players, they could win the league. Our focus now has to be on Lanciano.I was speaking with one of my players and I was sent off. I’m also sorry for Pacifico. He’s a fair player, I don’t know what happened. According to him, he didn’t say anything. It’s not easy to be a referee. I’m sorry because we won’t have our captain against Lanciano. I’ve told him off, but I’ll have to analyse other events.” 

MILAN – The half-time score between the Milan Primavera side and Varese is 2-1 in favour of the rossoneri thanks to a brace from Vido.Varese took the lead on 25 minutes through Forte who beat goalkeeper Gabriel from the penalty spot.Vido then equalised for Milan on 40 minutes after taking on two players before beating the Varese goalkeeper with a left-foot shoot.Moments before the end of the first-half, Vido gave the rossoneri youngsters the lead after bursting into the box to slot the ball past the goalkeeper with a right-foot shot.Milan also had a goal scored by Pinato ruled out for offside on 15 minutes.

After this morning’s training session, Vincenzo Montella named the 23-man squad that will travel to Turin for tomorrow’s league match against Juventus.

Here’s the list in alphabetical order:

Ambrosini, Anderson, Aquilani, Bakic, Compper, Cuadrado, Diakite, Fernandez, Gomez, Ilicic, Joaquin, Lupatelli, Matri, Neto, Pasqual, Pizarro, Rodriguez, Roncaglia, Rosati, Ryder, Savic, Vargas, Wolski.

Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella met with the assembled media at the Stadio Franchi this morning as he prepares his team for tomorrow’s league clash with Serie A leaders Juventus, the first of three meetings in 10 days against the Bianconeri with a two-legged Europa League tie just around the corner.

The first question for the Viola boss was about the FIGC’s decision to cut Borja Valero’s ban by just one game. He replied: “I have to think about coaching the team, so what it means to me is that I’ll have a fresher player for the Europa League.”

Fiorentina are the only side to beat Juventus in Serie A this season. What does that mean?
“It means that they’re a strong team, both as a group and as individuals, tactically and technically. They also have an excellent coach and a winning tradition. Preparing for a game such as this provides you with added incentive. The players know that and are determined to try and get a result at a stadium where the home side has won every game this season. I expect to see my team playing their game with character and without fear.”

Have the injustices Fiorentina have suffered this season affected the team’s enthusiasm?
“No, you get ups and downs throughout the course of a season and we mustn’t seek excuses. We have to keep believing in what we’ve been doing over the last two years. We mustn’t lose our enthusiasm, conviction and confidence. Life is full of injustices: you can’t fix them all.”

How is Gomez doing psychologically speaking?
“He’s getting better. Psychologically he’s probably been affected by the fact that so far he’s not been able to give us what he wanted to give us and what we hoped he could do for us, but that’s not his fault. He’s been sidelined for a long time so mentally he’s not 100% because at the moment he can’t do the things that normally come natural to him. I don’t think it will be long before we see him back to his best. Often all it takes is a goal, even a lucky one.”

How’s Anderson?
“He’s improving a lot but isn’t quite there yet. When the coach picks the team he has to consider that the game lasts 95 minutes. When you prepare a game sometimes you know that you’ll have to make at least one or two substitutions, but then things can happen during the match that upset your plans. He hasn’t got 90 minutes in him yet but he’s enthusiastic and I’m pleased with his commitment.”

Are you worried about facing Juve twice in a week, both in Serie A and the Europa League?
“This is football. Obviously I’d have preferred to play another team in Europe but as I said it’s motivating for us. We’ll have to dig deep and perhaps even raise our game. We have to go about it with character and confidence because if we want to have higher ambitions than fourth or fifth, we must show it on the pitch.”

A lot of people think you should channel your energy into the Europa League tie.
“I don’t see why we can’t channel all our energy into both. We’re not prioritising one or the other because even if you do that it can backfire and you end up with nothing anyway.”

Are Rossi and Gomez better than Llorente and Tevez?
“There’s an easy answer to that but then I could end up motivating the opposition even more! So I’ll just say that I would have liked to have had Rossi and Gomez available all season.”