Rossoneri wary of PSV threat ahead of first leg in Eindhoven.
AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri believes his players will have to suffer if they are to successfully book their place in the Champions League group stages at the expense of PSV.
The Dutch giants have already begun their Eredivisie campaign, winning all three of their opening games and scoring freely.
While Serie A is set to start this weekend, Philip Cocu’s men will undoubtedly be at a more advanced level of fitness and will look to take advantage of their opponent’s competitive inactivity.
However, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Allegri believes that his side are making good progress after a solid trip to the USA in pre-season, and is confident his players have what it takes to advance.
“They are ahead in condition, they have played 3 games of the season already, but we are making good progress. We must try to be good in defence, as they play very good football.
“You have to pay a lot of attention and try to be aggressive and take advantage of our best qualities in attack. It will not be easy, we will have to suffer but that is normal,” he added.
The Italian tactician has revealed he will begin the game with an attacking trident consisting of Mario Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy and Kevin-Prince Boateng in Eindhoven on Tuesday night, with the two-leg affair resulting in a financial boost of around €30m should they win.
Milan would receive around $9m in prize money for reaching the group stages with the addition of results-based bonuses, plus TV rights money and sponsorship pay-outs. They received €51.4m last season, but if they were to miss out their good work to balance the books would be nullified.
The Rossoneri were amongst the top earners from last year’s tournament, particularly thanks to the television rights which were split between just Allegri’s side and Juventus.
It is understood that they could make movements in the transfer market if they secure their place in the group stages, with Allegri jokingly suggesting he may write to Santa Claus for a gift in December.
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