The Rossoneri coach: “It will be a very different game from the league match.” The goalkeeper: “This year we are more of a team, more of a family; many things have changed. My contract? I have to stay focused on the present; today is not the time to talk about my future.”

Max Allegri appears in the press room at Al-Awwal Park, a 25,000-seat stadium where the Super Cup semifinals and final will be played, with his classic joke to ease some of the understandable tension: “There are a lot of you here, huh?” Italian and Saudi reporters are present in the back rows. “We want the final,” begins Max, who has already won three in his career (two with Juventus and one with Milan). “Napoli are strong, we’re looking for balance, they’ll be angry after their defeat against Udinese. But this is a one-off game, different, full of great players.”

Injury update. Allegri remains tight-lipped about the transfer market: “Fofana has recovered and will be available, we’ll see about Leao. Gimenez, on the other hand, will have to undergo surgery tomorrow. He’s been undergoing conservative therapy for a while and was doing well, but the ankle problem has flared up again. I hope to have him back as soon as possible. But we haven’t talked about the transfer market. At the moment, our goal is to get the players back from the infirmary, then in January we’ll see what opportunities come our way.” Max has called up six players from Milan Futuro, in Serie D. They are goalkeeper Pittarella (who has actually been with the first team for some time), defenders Sala, Dutu, and Vladimirov, striker Borsani, and above all Maximilian Ibrahimovic, 19, son of Zlatan: “They have good qualities,” Allegri reiterated, “I wanted to reward them for what they are doing in training.” Finally, on Napoli: “They were very aggressive against Juve and Roma. We have to be good at playing well technically.”

Maignan speaks—  Mike Maignan was also in the press room, who obviously dodged the topic of renewal: “The most important thing is what I can do every day. My future is the talk of the town, but it doesn’t bother me. I have to be focused. Today is not the time to talk about my future, we have a game to play. I have to give my all tomorrow night and see what happens after that.“ He had kind words for Allegri: ”The results are better. This year we are more of a team, more of a family, a group where we enjoy ourselves. Many things have changed, the coach and his staff have brought serenity. We have to continue at this pace and improve every day to get positive results.” He also had a message for Claudio Filippi, the trainer who made him Magic again: “He brought me serenity. He has a cool head and knows how to manage a group of goalkeepers. Working with people like that is easier. I don’t want to make comparisons, but I’m talking about him and I feel very good about what he proposes in training, how he manages my character and other things.”