MILAN - Paolo Maldini talked about Wednesday’s match against Schalke with Gazzetta dello Sport: ‘I am doing well enough and will be available to play. We are going to Schalke’s stadium to win, because in the Champions League you must seal the round as soon as possible.’

MILAN – Before departing for Gelsenkirchen, where Milan will face Schalke 04 tomorrow evening, Carlo Ancelotti spoke with the journalists present at Malpensa: ‘We have two uncertainties: Stam and Ambrosini. We will see how the others do this evening during the training in Gelsenkirchen, then we will make the lineup. Schalke is a robust side and they play at a high level. At home they play more aggressively, focusing on the offense. Right now we are trying to put on a good presentation. We want to reach six points in the classifications, but we want to play well.’

that we are better technically and not just physically’

MILAN – In view of the Schalke 04 away game, Carlo Ancelotti confided that the team have shown signs of improvement in the last week: ‘Tomorrow’s game will be played at night and there will be a different atmosphere. Therefore, there is a possibility that you will see an even better Milan than in Padova. We are in line with what did last year, but we must try to play better. There are things that we must improve upon. On certain fields we play slowly, we must improve the rhythm of our game. We must streamline. It is a problem with the beginning of the season. But, it is better to face problems at the beginning of the season rather than later. However, we have to play the games counting on the fact that we are better technically and not just physically. Certainly, we must not physically succumb because otherwise it would be difficult to express our quality.’

GELSENKIRCHEN - Captain Paolo Maldini was present with coach Carlo Ancelotti at the press conference ahead of the Schalke 04: 'It has been important that in the last two games we have not conceded a goal even if we haven't been on top of our game in defence. We have to remain relaxed because for a long time the Milan defence has given plenty of security. The Champions League has a special fascination.'

9/28/2005
GELSENKIRCHEN - Kaladze had this to say after training at the Veltins Arena: 'We are all fine, I think we'll see a good Milan against Schalke also because the pitch favours our style of play, it's wonderful. The opponents are a dangerous side at home, they may not have many top individuals but have great character and so we'll have to be aware.'

9/28/2005
GELSENKIRCHEN - Rino Gattuso talked about the side's form: 'We are looking for a high level of football and tomorrow's game will be a gauge for that. We can't deny it, Milan have not been playing really well but we haven't taken a step back. We are relaxed and our style of play wll arrive and that's our main objective.'

9/28/2005
GELSENKIRCHEN - On the eve of the game against Schalke 04 chief executive Adriano Galliani said: 'We'll play in a wonderful stadium and it makes you think that ours are obsolete. Italy has to get on the same level with the rest of European stadiums otherwise it is difficult to compete at the highest level. Then the stadiums abroad provide a different atmosphere to ours. The atmosphere in the Champions League is unique, there's no spitting, insults and problems. I am satisfied with the team, we have the same points as we had this time last season and we have started well in the Champions League, now we have to win at Schalke.

9/26/2005
MILAN - During this morning’s interview with Italian radio station Rai 1 Carlo Ancelotti spoke about the situation after the Treviso victory: ‘We are improving. We are making slow, but steady progress. We are on the same path as last year, when we lost the third round against Messina and then made a comeback. Lately we have not manifested the kind of calm that is necessary to obtain the result. First of all we must find a balance, above all in the rear, where we have conceded too many goals. Then, we must find a beautiful style of play. We do not have a problem with quality. We must try to increase consistency and fluidity in our game. The fundamental thing is the equilibrium and the solidity of the defence.’ Then, on the defence he added: ‘We are at the beginning and it is normal that some of the players are not yet in the best condition. Our defenders are very young, but are already very reliable, even from a physical point of view. We’ll see what happens in the future. The club worked the market very well. We obtained two strong strikers, one youngster and one expert. We also reinforced the midfield with Jankulovski and Vogel. I believe that we couldn’t have done any better.’

9/26/2005
MILAN - Carlo Ancelotti then spoke about his players: ‘Gilardino? He has characteristics that permit him to play out of the box, not with a lot of short passes, but with good long ones. He's very good at giving balls to the midfielders ready to attack the box. It is a characteristic that we want to use to our advantage. Sheva has to play wider on the wings to accomadate him. But it is not going to be a problem for him because Sheva is used to doing that and he does that very well. And furthermore, Sheva's scoring average is very high indeed. Gila and Vieri give us a possible advantage against a more physical side. The first results have been positive. Gattuso? He has a bad temper, but we have never had any problems. He always says what he thinks. On Sunday, I gave him a hug because we get along very well.’

9/26/2005
MILAN - Carlo Ancelotti continued: ‘Right now Juve and Inter are going strong. Juve suffered a bit at the start against Parma, but then they improved a lot. Capello understands how to use the turnover to keep the play fresh. Inter played very well against Fiorentina.’ In ending, Ancelotti turned to his relationship with Silvio Berlusconi: ‘There has been great affection for many years. When he says something about Milan, I think of it like a father speaking with his son, and the son had better stay still and listen.’

9/26/2005
MILANELLO - Ricky Kakà spoke to Milan Channel about the win over Treviso: 'We have talked about all the weak points about this Milan side but we must look at the positive points: this side is growing and are doing well. If another side wins 1-0 then they say they have played well, we win 2-0 and they say we have played badly which isn’t true. We have two consecutive games and haven’t conceded a goal, we’re even getting better at deadball situations. These are the things that must be paid attention to as this Milan side is strong.' Against Treviso, Kakà was amongst the best players on the pitch and the Brazilian explained: 'We are all looking to improve on an individual level because you need this element to make the side as a whole stronger. Each one is doing what they can to play their part, I am doing mine.' Looking ahead to the Champions League game at Schalke 04, he added: 'It’s an important away game which we want to win. It would be an important success.'

9/26/2005 11:57:00 AM
After two consecutive wins, against Lazio and Treviso, Milan are back in European action, with a trip to Germany on Wednesday to play Schalke 04 at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. The Champions League second group game will be the first meeting between the sides. Carlo Ancelotti’s side defeated Fenerbahce on day one of the competition thanks to goals from Kakà and Sheva while the Germans lost 1-0 at PSV Eindhoven. Coached by Ralf Rangnick, who will celebrate a year in charge on Wednesday, Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga last season and at the weekend defeat Hannover 2-0 to move to 16 points in the league. Kevin Kuranyi scored in that game and will be the man to watch but they also have Ebbe Sand, Gerald Asamoah and Dane Soren Larsen. In total, Schalke have won the league title seven times, the German Cup four, the German league cup once and the UEFA Cup once when they defeated Inter on penalties in 1997. Milan’s last visit to Germany ended with wins over Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the year of the Manchester triumph over Juve. Now, that is not a bad objective to repeat.

9/25/2005
PADOVA - Milan coach had this to say after the match against Treviso: 'We won
and this is important. I think we have improved since our last game. Maybe we
did not played that well, but the pitch conditions were not that good and it w
as a very hot out there. I think we got a boost from Sheva's goal. Now we have
to stay focused on what lies ahead of us. We have to forget the loss against
Sampdoria. We have so many games to play, starting with the one scheduled for
Wednesday. We are going to improve. I'm sure about that.'

9/25/2005
PADOVA - Alberto Gilardino is happy. He got fouled in the box to gain a penalt
y, scored by Sheva, and he scored a goal himself, the one that sealed the fina
l 2-0. 'I'm happy for the fact we won, for the fact that I got fouled in the b
ox and for the fact I scored a goal. It is tough to go on the road and play yo
ur own game. We did it here, though. Sheva and Kakà? They are great teammates
and we play well together.' AC Milan will play another game on the road soon,
at Gelsenkirchen for the Champions League. He added: 'We are going there to w
in, no doubts about that.'

9/25/2005
PADOVA - Adriano Galliani stated this right after the first win on the road of
the season: 'They said that we were cursed because we could not win afternoon
matches. Well, we did it. We won despite a very hot afternoon and this is ver
y good news. Now we have to open a winning streak so that we can close the gap
with the leading teams. Gilardino? He is a great player and we knew that alre
ady. And we are going to be even better soon, when Pippo Inzaghi comes back wi
th us. Players have to stay focused and play the right way.' The chief executi
ve added: 'I invited Rino Gattuso over for dinner. Just the two of us, to be s
ure that we are all on the same page and there are no problems. Sometimes when
you love something or someone too much there might be misunderstandings. But
there are no problems at all with Rino.'

9/25/2005
PADOVA - Jaap Stam explained why he had to leave the game early: 'I felt some
stiffness in my calf. I kept playing for a few minutes and then I decided it w
as better to leave the pitch. I am not sure that the stiffness is caused by th
e knock I sustained when I crashed against the post. We are going to evaluate
the damage. Today, we faced a good team and we played very well. I did save a
goal right on the line, but this is what I'm paid for.'

9/25/2005
PADOVA - Clarence Seedorf stated to Milan Channel: 'I think it was a tough mat
ch. They were aggressive and well organised. We had to be patient, playing our
game at our own pace. We controlled the movement of the ball and possession.
After Sheva's goal we had more chances to strike with our fast counter-attack.
We wrapped it up when Gilardino scored the second goal. They did have a great
chance, but Stam saved our goal. We won a game that we were supposed to win,
that it. I think we showed that we can play the right way, without pressure an
d at our own pace.'

9/25/2005 5:06:00 PM
Milan were back to winning ways on the road thanks to goals from Andriy Shevch
enko and Alberto Gilardino in the 2-0 victory against Treviso in Padova. Coach
Carlo Ancelotti would also have been satisfied to see his side keep a clean s
heet for the second consecutive game. It was a sound if not spectacular perfor
mance against a Treviso side that have yet to win this season but it was certa
inly another confidence-builder ahead of the upcoming fixtures and proved once
again that the Rossoneri are getting into their stride.

MILAN - Andriy Shevchenko is just one goal off Josè Altafini's 150-record for Milan. The Ukrainian striker told La Gazzetta Sportiva: 'I am proud to be up in this gallery of champions. I will be pleased to join Atlafini because it's always an honour to overtake a champion. However, the important thing is that Milan win a lot of games in a row. It doesn't matter who scores but that we don't concede anything to Inter or Juve. We've been unlucky but it's not too late to get back.'

MILANELLO - Ancelotti on Jankulovski: 'He's starting to improve. After the stop everything seems to be in place. As for the dead-ball situations, we improve a lot against Lazio. Vieri? He has certain characteristics which can come in handy. The first goal against Lazio came from his knock-down from a long-ball to set up Shevchenko.'

MILANELLO - Adriano Galliani said: 'Not even Kakà on August 15, 2003 would have thought that in just two years he would have played 100 official games for Milan. Instead, he arrived in a side rich in talent and played 100 games at the highest level as a regular. I would wish that Kakà would now join Paolo Maldini. When he arrives at the end of his career, the average age of players is getting older, he could be playing at 40, taking into everything into account. We'll see ... I hope at least the same for Kakà.'

Ricky then said: 'These first 100 games for Milan arrived very quickly. I hope it goes on like this, for me and the team. Drawing level with Maldini? That would be marvellous, Paolo is an example to us all.'

MILANELLO - Adriano Galliani led the ceremony to award Paolo Maldini with a medal to record his appearance record. Written on it was: '800 times a Rossoneri', signed by Silvio Berlusconi. Galliani then said about Paolo: 'It's difficult to talk about him, everything has been said. When Silvio Berlusconi acquired Milan on Feburary 20, 1986, Paolo had already made his debut in Serie A. 800 is an incredible number, in the same shirt and same number. Paolo is doing something unrebeatable. Now that the brake discs are functioning well I have been told they work even better in the cold. He has a contract until the end of 2007 and I want to negotiate another when we have an official meeting. The medal I had out today is light compared to the one for 1000. Paolo is the son of the first Italian captain to win the Champions Cup and he repeared that. He is always our captain, we'll retire the number three shirt when Paolo leaves but the number will remain for his son in the youth side.'

Paolo Maldini: 'I think I have aged pretty well. My spirit is still that of a kid, the knee a little less so but I will look to honour my contract until June 30, 2007. I would also like to announce that my son Christian will start with the Milan youth section at Linate on Monday.'

MILAN - 'Pippo has recovered 100%.' This is what Marc Martens had to say about Pippo Inzaghi, who returned from Belgium last night where he had been recovering from injury. Pippo said: 'If I could, I would play on Sunday, we'll see, I am not ready but I don't want to risk it. The league stops at the start of October so there will be time to prepare well. I'll speak to Ancelotti and the medical staff.' In closing: 'I am refinding the sensation of old. This is really great.'

9/24/2005
MILANO - Tuttosport spoke Kakà about Gilardino: 'I am really pleased he came to Milan. He has come close to winning the league's top scorer in the last two years. He's an intelligent striker, a complete centre forward. I hope to set him up a lot. ' Ricky then talked about his goals: 'I am always pleased to score, especially one like that against Fenerbahce. Vieri, Sheva, Gilardino and Inzaghi can relax however, my first thought is to pass.'

MILANO - La Gazzetta dello Sport interviewed Massimo Ambrosini: 'I wouldn't change anything and don't look back with bitterness. The goal in the semi-final, the injury that kept me out of Istanbul, above all, what happed on that evening. Too many regrets to take in so it's best to get back and with a anger which in this case is positive energy.' Massimo's best moments are reserved for goals: 'I can't hide it, I love scoring goals a lot. I am pleased for myself and for the team, but scoring is a special sensation even I will always be a midfielder.'