Cardinale: ‘Bring Milan back to the top, I’m sticking with Amorim’
Gerry Cardinale insists he wants to ‘get Milan back to the top’ and win the Derby della Madonnina with Inter tonight and coach Ruben Amorim ‘is my guy, so I’m sticking with him.’
It kicks off at the iconic Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in San Siro at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).
This match is also being aired live on BBC2 in the UK and on the iPlayer.
Cardinale has big ambition for Milan
“I’m looking at this crowd right now, you’re not going to see anything more electric than this,” Cardinale told Sky Sport Italia.
“This is the pinnacle of football, it’s the pinnacle of everything we’ve been working hard for. It’s going to be a big night.”
Cardinale had dinner with Milan legends and former players last night in the build-up to this Derby della Madonnina.
“If we’re going to get Milan back to the top, it’s going to start with culture and what I’ve been working on since I took over on May 25 is culture. AC Milan’s greatest competitive advantage is the legends who made them AC Milan, so we’re bringing them all back and we want to do more of this. We want a partnership with the past so we can build for the future and get back where we belong.”
Milan suffered their first Serie A defeat of the season with a midweek 4-2 loss at home to Bologna, having already been beaten in the Europa League by Benfica and Bournemouth.
The injury crisis is starting to calm a little with the return of Mario Gila, Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira, but they are still missing Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, Samuel Chukwueze, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alexis Saelemaekers and Pietro Terracciano.
Cardinale chose Amorim as his coach for this new Milan project, despite the dismissal at Manchester United in January.
“I chose him, we have a tremendous partnership, he’s doing a great job and we came into this week undefeated. I think he’s done a hell of a job, he’s a real coach, a real manager, he’s a real developer of people, and that’s what we need. He is my guy and I’m sticking with him,” explained the patron.
It is no secret that Milan are in negotiations to secure Markus Krosche as a new director after he walked away from Eintracht Frankfurt.
“We’re going to be active, we’re going to be here for a long time, we’re going to be extremely active in every window, and I will always be optimistic on improving the club,” noted Cardinale when asked about the transfer window in January.
“I said very publicly that I took over this club on May 25, that I’ve been very hands on, I’m going to be putting in a real professional football organisation and there will be an announcement very soon.”
The two clubs only unveiled plans for the new Generali Stadium a couple of days ago, but that won’t begin construction until 2028, so we can continue for now to enjoy this remarkable arena.
“The new stadium is a partnership between Inter and Milan. We want to win tonight, of course, but for the stadium there is a partnership, I want to bring the best of my experience in the United States with building stadiums, I want to bring the best not just to AC Milan, but to bring Italian football where it belongs.”
Milan won the last three editions of the Derby della Madonnina without conceding a goal, including the Coppa Italia semi-final, and haven’t lost to Inter since a 2-1 result in April 2024.
