AC Milan's British defender Fikayo Tomori (left) heads the ball in front of Chelsea's Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during the UEFA Champions League Group E football match between Chelsea and AC Milan at Stamford Bridge in London last Wednesday. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)
Chelsea can expect a different AC Milan at the San Siro than the side that fell tamely 3-0 last week in London, England defender Fikayo Tomori said on Monday on the eve of the Champions League return leg in Italy.
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Tomori gave a less than convincing show against his former club at Stamford Bridge but scored last weekend in a 2-0 win over Juventus in Serie A.
“I was very angry after the game against Chelsea, which had to be cancelled out completely so it was good for me to score the goal,” the 23-year-old told reporters before Tuesday’s game.
“We didn’t play as we know how to play since I’ve been here, which is about a year and a half.
“Especially games like this where it’s tough, in a tough stadium in the Champions League, that’s when we really want to show ourselves and we didn’t really manage to do it, which was disappointing for us.
“The good thing was we had another game against Juventus so we had a chance to correct it and managed to have a good performance and win.
“We have another opportunity in front of our fans to put that game against Chelsea to bed.
“We have a chance to prove that we’re better than that. I have a chance to prove I’m better than that.”
After three matches, Chelsea and Serie A champions Milan are tied with four points in an open group, one point behind leaders RB Salzburg, but only one ahead of Dinamo Zagreb.
Against the Blues, Milan coach Stefano Pioli also intends “to show that this defeat was only an exceptional episode”.
“We were very disappointed, knowing that we are capable of doing much better. We must learn from last week and in particular make fewer mistakes.
“We have analysed them and we do not want to repeat them. Because Chelsea, in addition to their very great qualities, had benefited a lot from these errors.”
Still without goalkeeper Mike Maignan (calf) and defender Simon Kjaer (thigh), in addition to long-term absentees Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alessandro Florenzi, Davide Calabria and Alexis Saelemaekers, Milan will not be able to count on Belgium midfielder Charles De Ketelaere, struggling with a muscle issue.
After the return of Theo Hernandez this weekend, the Italian champions can count on the return of Brazilian midfielder Junior Messias.
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