Simon Kjaer has challenged Milan winger Rafael Leao to "grow enormously" and realise his potential to be one of the top five players in the world.
Leao played a big part in the Rossoneri's first Serie A title triumph in 11 years last season and has been linked with Real Madrid.
The 23-year-old Portugal international, who has just under two years remaining on his contract, scored 14 goals and provided 10 assists across all competitions in the 2021-22 campaign.
Milan defender Kjaer wants to see Leao scale new heights, while he is also expecting big things of 22-year-old midfielder Sandro Tonali and new signing Divock Origi.
"This year I want to see Leao and Tonali: they are no longer kids, they have to grow enormously," the Denmark captain told Sportweek.
"What they did last year is no longer enough. Leao has quality. extraordinary and therefore he can no longer afford games in which one sees little: he must always be decisive.
"If he can make this leap, he can be one of the top five in the world.
"Then I want to see Origi: I was with him in Lille, he was a kid, now I expect a champion who makes the difference because he has everything to be, speed, strength and feet."
Kjaer has returned to action in pre-season after a long lay-off due to a knee injury.
Stefano Pioli urges AC Milan to get Serie A title challenge back on track
AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli admitted his side must get their Serie A title challenge back on track with victory in Saturday’s home game against Frosinone.
Just one win in their previous five league matches has seen Milan slip six points behind leaders Inter and four behind second-placed Juventus.
A home Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in midweek left Milan bottom of their group and while they can still qualify for the knockout stages with one game to play, the pressure is mounting on Pioli.
The 58-year-old former Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina head coach told a press conference: “Frosinone are doing very well and have confidence, (Eusebio) Di Francesco is doing a great job.
“They are aggressive, but we know how to cause them problems. We want to win, and we need to. We need points, the league campaign is long.
“As usual, we’ll need to show concentration, determination and quality. We need to show we are still competitive and put in a good performance.”
Milan beat Pioli’s former club Fiorentina 1-0 at the San Siro last week to halt a domestic league run of two draws and two defeats and a slump in form has coincided with a lengthy injury list.
Pioli was without half a dozen key players for Tuesday night’s loss to Dortmund and saw defender Malick Thiaw forced off early in the second half.
Thiaw will not feature against Frosinone and Olivier Giroud is still suspended, while Rafael Leao, Noah Okafor, Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Marco Pellegrino and Mattia Caldara are unlikely to feature.
Pioli added: “There are still 25 league games to play. I told the players not to come in on Thursday to Milanello if they didn’t believe we could reach Inter and Juventus.”
Frosinone boss Di Francesco has injury concerns of his own as his 10th-placed side bid to halt their poor away form, with Luca Mazzitelli, Riccardo Marchizza, Pol Lirola, Francesco Gelli and Marco Brescianini all doubtful.
Frosinone’s impressive start to the season after promotion has been built on five wins and a draw in seven home league matches, but they are winless on the road.
Di Francesco told a press conference: “We need to get this obstacle out of our heads. We made the last point (on the road) in Salerno (in September).
“We need to try to approach the away match with the right attitude. Here at home, however, we feel stronger when going to face our opponents. This way of thinking certainly needs to be changed.”
Aston Villa complain to UEFA over ‘shocking behaviour’ of Legia Warsaw fans
Aston Villa have lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the behaviour of Legia Warsaw fans ahead of the Europa Conference League clash at Villa Park.
Almost 50 people were arrested following violence involving the visiting fans prior to kick-off on Thursday night.
Missiles were thrown at police as the Polish supporters were held in a coach park near the ground before they were due to enter the stadium.
West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and, although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed in ahead of kick-off.
Villa also accused Legia officials of a “complete lack of cooperation” with themselves, the police and UEFA.
Villa said in a statement: “Aston Villa can confirm it has lodged an official complaint with UEFA over the conduct of Legia Warsaw Football Club and the behaviour of their supporters prior to last night’s UEFA Europa Conference League match at Villa Park.
“Four police officers were injured and 46 Legia supporters arrested after unprecedented violence by the Polish fans outside the stadium.
“This shocking behaviour followed Legia club officials’ complete lack of cooperation with West Midlands Police, Aston Villa and UEFA throughout the day.
“It started during the standard pre-match operational meeting that commenced at 10.30am on Thursday morning and was attended by UEFA representatives, including UEFA’s security team, as well as West Midlands Police including representatives from both clubs.
“Legia Warsaw refused to confirm if they would accept their allocation of tickets for the match at that point. This is in stark contrast to normal UEFA operational procedures.
“They advised the meeting that they would meet with their supporters at 2.30pm and communicate the decision at 3pm, but advised there was a possibility that they would not accept the tickets.
“Despite repeated requests before and after the 3pm deadline for a decision, there was no communication until 4pm when Legia informed Aston Villa that they wished to receive their ticket allocation.
“These tickets were handed to Legia officials immediately upon their arrival at the stadium at 6.16pm. To reiterate, Legia officials were advised on a call that included a number of UEFA representatives on November 2 that they would receive an allocation of 1,002 – exactly four weeks prior to last night’s fixture.”
Chris Heck, president of business operations at Villa, said: “The lack of cooperation and prevarication from Legia Warsaw officials prior to the match was entirely unacceptable and deeply disappointing.
“This behaviour increased the danger that West Midlands Police officers and our own fans were subjected to before the game and the scenes of disorder from the Legia fans have no place in modern football or civilised society.
“Aston Villa will be making further representations to UEFA in order to ensure that other clubs and police forces across Europe are not exposed to similar serious safety risks at the hands of Legia Warsaw.
“We are immensely grateful to West Midlands Police for keeping our supporters and our local community safe last night and are pleased that they will also be making their own representations via the UK police authorities to UEFA.”
West Midlands Police chief inspector Tim Robinson said on Thursday evening: “This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.
“Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.”
He said the “extreme violence” left police with no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium, adding: “The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.”
Pre-season Manning Cup favorites JC and STATHS to square off in Walker Cup final
Jamaica College and St Andrew Technical (STATHS) will meet in the 2023 Walker Cup final after scoring 3-0 victories over Excelsior High and Wolmer’s Boys respectively in the semi-finals played at stadium east on Thursday.
Coming into the season, both teams who had met in the Manning Cup final in 2017, 2019 and 2022, would have been tipped to meet at that stage once again.
Jayd Johnson scored a double for Jamaica College who led 1-0 at half time as Excelsior High finished the game with 10 players after Renaldino Medwinter was sent off for striking a Jamaica College player.
Johnson gave Jamaica College the lead in the 27th minute, Jamoy Denis made the scores 2-0 in the 51st minute before Johnson completed his brace in the 58th minute.
Earlier in the first game, Nickoy Gayle scored for STATHS in the 10th minute, Richard Livingston doubled the lead in the 19th minute before Ajetai Marshall who was celebrating his 17th birthday and came off the bench in the second half, completed the scoring in the 77th minute.
The final will be a precursor to the Manning Cup final between Hydel High and Mona High at the National Stadium on December 8.
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