Monza chief executive Adriano Galliani has reflected on his first experience at Inter’s training centre after being present at Pinetina for the friendly between Inter and Monza, which took place this afternoon.
“I certainly got a special feeling coming here, I had never been here in the 31 years I was at AC Milan. I was well received by my friend Marotta, by Conte, Ausilio and Antonello,” he explained in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, which was broadcast a short time ago.
“We had a very good lunch together and I have to praise the catering. Beppe and I met in the early 80s at a match between Monza-Varese, we could talk for hours about the past.”
Galliani was then asked about the desire AC Milan had to bring Inter manager Antonio Conte to the club a few years ago.
“We talked about it. He is a great, great coach and has been since his days at Arezzo. He wants his teams to play well, congratulations to Inter for appointing him.”
Next Galliani was asked what Monza president and owner Silvio Berlusconi made of this afternoon’s friendly between the two clubs, that finished 1-0 to Inter.
“He is such a fan that he called me to find out the score at the end of the first half. As he said yesterday, AC Milan are his past whist Monza are his present and the future.
Galliani then went on to share the dreams that both he and Berlusconi have for Monza, who were promoted to Serie B for this season.
“Our dream is to take them to Serie A, let’s hope to make it this year already. It is a declared goal, I was a Monza ultrà as a child.”
Galliani then went on to joke about still being an AC Milan fan despite not working for the Rossoneri club for a number of years now.
“Even though I am at the Inter training centre, I continue to be an AC Milan fan, 31 years cannot be cancelled out [laughs].”
In conclusion Galliani was asked about Marotta’s recent comments, in which he suggested there is a risk of default in Serie A as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“We absolutely talked about it, football clubs have witnessed a drastic drop in turnover. There are no fans, which means a decrease in sponsors and I am very afraid for the TV rights for the next three years.
“I believe that football should be treated like other companies, instead it is considered as the sport of the first lady. It’s true, football is at risk of default.”