Ibrahimovic hails ‘fresh blood’ to reinvigorate Milan | OneFootball

Zlatan Ibrahimovic reiterates that Milan ‘were not satisfied or happy’ with the first half of the season, so new signings brought ‘fresh blood’ and start in the Champions League play-off with Feyenoord.

It kicks off at the De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam at 20.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Club Brugge-Atalanta on the Liveblog.

For the first time, Sergio Conceicao has decided to start all four of his star strikers, January signings Santiago Gimenez – against his former club – and Joao Felix, with Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.

“Everyone can attack and everyone can defend. They each have their own responsibilities. The coach makes the decisions and today this is what he has chosen,” Ibrahimovic told Amazon Prime Video Italia.

Ibrahimovic inspired Milan changes

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 05: Joao Felix of AC Milan celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the Coppa Italia Quarter Final match between AC Milan and AS Roma at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 05, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

The Rossoneri revamped everything in January, including Conceicao replacing sacked Paulo Fonseca, but also players like Warren Bondo and Riccardo Sottil who are not on the UEFA list.

“As I said a few times, we were not satisfied with the first half of the season and not happy with the situation. Now we are confident, this team must push Milan forward,” added Ibrahimovic.

“We brought in five new players who brought fresh blood and fired everyone up.”

It has been suggested that the arrival of Joao Felix can ‘take responsibility’ away from Rafael Leao, who had suffered from being the sole creative outlet for the squad.

“It’s not true that he takes responsibility away, as Leao still has it, but it doesn’t just depend on those two. There are many players here to have responsibility to get results for Milan. They are two totally different players and play two different roles.”