AC Milan go into their clash with Juventus six points adrift of their unbeaten opponents in the Serie A standings, and while they have plenty of respect for their rivals, fear does not come into it, manager Paulo Fonseca said on Friday.
Milan have played a game less than Thiago Motta’s team, but three defeats have left them in seventh place and playing catch-up, with Juve one place ahead.
“It is not decisive but it is important, like all of them,” Fonseca told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game.
“I can’t say that the game against Juve is more important than the next one against Empoli because we need consecutive victories.
“It’s a different game but I always think positive. We are Milan, we have a lot of respect for the ‘Bianconeri’, but we are not afraid. We are here ready to win.”
Juventus are missing their top scorer Dusan Vlahovic for this game, but Fonseca knows the dangers of his probable replacement Timothy Weah, having managed him at in France at Lille.
“Juve knows how to adapt very well. I don’t know if Weah will play,” Fonseca said.
“Weah is very fast and attacks deep, not like Vlahovic. It will not be the same thing of course.
“We will have to pay attention to movements in depth and less to support work, because he is a player who does less of this job.”
While results haven’t always gone Fonseca’s way in his first season in charge at Milan, they did pull out big wins when it mattered, against rivals Inter Milan in the league and more recently at Real Madrid in the Champions League.
“I believe it’s a matter of motivation and not pressure,” Fonseca said.
“Against Inter, Juve and Real it is easy to be motivated, it’s more difficult to go to Cagliari and have the same motivation.
“Pressure is always with us, every day. If we don’t want to have pressure, then we shouldn’t be here.”
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far, a very tight title-race, with just two points separating Motta’s side from leaders Napoli.
“It’s very balanced and this is good for both us and the public,” Motta said.
“We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible.”