"No time for talk": Milan take a surprise decision before facing Atalanta

A clear message before the run of fixtures

Milan have sacrificed their media duties to buy their players and coaching staff more preparation time, scrapping Ruben Amorim's press conference ahead of the Serie A trip to face Atalanta. The fixture pile-up has left the Rossoneri with barely room to breathe.

Amorim's traditional pre-match briefing, scheduled before Sunday evening's meeting with Atalanta at San Siro, is off.

The call came the moment the squad landed back from Austria, where they had thrashed Salzburg 4-0 in the Europa League. Amorim and his staff want every available minute on the training pitch, especially after that draw against Sassuolo. He will oversee just one session, on Saturday, before the eagerly awaited encounter.

According to the French website "Foot Mercato", citing Italian media, Milan could do exactly the same next week. The schedule explains why: they fly to England to meet Bournemouth in the Europa League, return to Milan the following day, then set off for Udine.

Recovery, workload management and work on the grass now come first. With so little time between games, the staff have decided media appearances can wait, all in the hope of keeping the squad fresh through the busiest stretch of the season.