The red and white managing director tells Sky Sport in a long interview a few days before the “derby of the heart” against Milan: “Saturday I will be in religious silence, I won’t move a muscle. President Berlusconi will also be there, he tells me he is an us against us. He thinks big and is free to dream”. And on Palladino: “he is intelligent and has a lucky star”
If for Adriano Galliani there is a game that will never be like all the others, that is Milan-Monza. In the first leg, at San Siro, he experienced unique emotions that he will relive on Saturday as “landlord” at the U Power Stadium. “It will be us against us” admits the managing director of Monza in a long interview with Sky Sport.
“My life for football”
From Monza to Milan, then the return. Galliani’s life is dedicated to football: “I was born and raised in Monza, my life has always been linked to football. It is no coincidence that, when I was one of the owners of Monza until 1985, the year in which Silvio Berlusconi he asked me to resign to go to Milan with him, I lived here I became CEO of Milan on February 20, 1986 and decided to move to Milan to breathe the air of the team I was going to“.
“My Sunday was mass, lunch and Monza”
Strolling through the city centre, Galliani recalled his boyhood years in Monza, getting excited at the thought of Sundays with his mother between the Duomo, lunch at home and red and white matches: “This is the center of Monza, I was baptized and confirmed in the Cathedral.One used to walk here to try and stalk some girls. This is my life that moves me. I used to live with my mother, I had the misfortune of losing her when I was less than 15 years old. I have all my memories. The link between the Duomo and Monza is simple: I used to come here at noon with my mother for mass, then home for a quick lunch, finally walking to Campo San Gregorio where Monza played at 2.30pm. Cathedral, home and then to see the Monza“.
“Monza my last professional dance”
“My football life is Milan-Monzanothing else could have happened” admits Galliani who has never taken other clubs into consideration: “My last professional ball could only be Monza – he explains – I could not betray Milan after 31 years, I could not have gone to another club. I’m at home here, there hasn’t been a single Milan fan who has accused me of treason.”
“The purchase of the Monza born for lunch”
Berlusconi’s arrival in Monza dates back to five years ago. It all started with a lunch in Arcore and an idea launched by Galliani over a plate of spaghetti: “It was one of the traditional Tuesday lunches, I told the president that the Monza was for sale. He didn’t answer anything, I didn’t add anything else. We sit down at the table with his family and the top executives of the Fininvest group and he says to them: “I learned from Adriano that the Monza is for sale.” I was silent and silent because I didn’t want to push. Everyone says yes, Silvio Berlusconi then says to me: “Adriano, go and do it”. I immediately abandoned the plate of spaghetti, spoke to Felice Colombo and his son and we reached an agreement with a handshake as friends. We and the Colombo family punctually respected everything we said to each other”.
“Palladino is intelligent and has a lucky star”
Raffaele is one of Galliani’s football intuitions Palladino. Launched as a coach first with the youth team and then with the spring, the former striker is now the architect of Monza’s great season, still unbeaten in 2023: “Palladino came to us in 2019 as a footballer, I remembered him as intelligent and capable Then he had muscle problems and couldn’t play anymore, so we thought he could start his coaching career. I saw him as an intelligent person and I believe that intelligent people can do anything in life. After 5 games we had 0 points, in the sixth game we equalized in Lecce with only one free kick on goal. I get the idea of changing coach and I go to Arcore. The rule is this: if I come up with an idea, I have to get the president’s blessing. He spoke to Palladino and told me to do this operation. There was the match against Juventus and then the break, I told Raffaele to wait after the break because maybe he would lose. He wanted to start right away: evidently he has a lucky star since he beat Juve on his debut. If I think that Monza scored six points with Juventus this year, that doesn’t have a logical explanation.”
“When Palladino explained the reason for the three-man defense to Berlusconi”
Galliani revealed a background of the meeting between Berlusconi and Palladino, when the coach convinced the president with the idea of a three-man defence: “It’s not the classic defense, the president loves the back four. Raffaele explained to him that the wingers get up and down, maybe in the non-possession phase he becomes a four-man. Let’s say we got a compromise. Milan, after winning the scudetto with the 4-2-3-1 formation, are playing three-man today. Tottenham, Torino and Atalanta do it too. Of course, I remember that the national teams that won the World Cup or the teams that won the Champions League played all fours. If I think about the full-backs we had at Milan, it’s crazy.”
“It’s unlikely that Italian football will return first in Europe”
In the last 20 years, the managing director of Monza has seen the “overtaking” of English football over the Italian one. A trend that, according to Galliani, will be difficult to reverse: “English teams invoice 3-4 times more than the Italian ones, which didn’t happen before. It will be difficult for Italian football to go back to being the first in Europe as it was in the 90s. While once the Ballon d’Or players all played in Italy, the last Ballon d’Or won by a player who played in Serie A was Riccardino Kaka in 2007. It’s been 15 years. For Italian teams I no longer see the possibility of buying a potential golden ball“.
“Berlusconi will be there on Saturday. Monza-Milan is us against us”
As in the first leg in Milan, Saturday will also be an unforgettable match for Galliani with Silvio Berlusconi at his side: “At San Siro, my heart was divided in half. Monza is the team from the city where I was born, but the 31-year-old Milan cannot be canceled. Whether the theater is San Siro or the U Power Stadium doesn’t change, it’s a dream. Used to playing derbies with Seregno and Renate… now it’s incredible. The president will come. I was having lunch with him, on Saturday he promised he’ll be there. The president, like me, when he talks about Milan continues to say “we”. He will be us against us. I will remain in religious silence, without moving a muscle if Monza or Milan score, as happened in the first leg. I am training”.
“The president is free to dream”
If a dream has already come true with the promotion of Monza to Serie A, in Brianza there are also those who dream big with the Scudetto. This is the case of Berlusconi: “The president is free to think and dream. When I met you in 1979, you taught me to think big. This has helped me in life. If you think about the Scudetto maybe you’ll save yourself, if you think about saving yourself, maybe you’ll go back. You have to have very high goals. My dream came true last year. I support three teams: Milan, Monza and Armani. Last season Milan and Armani won the Scudetto and Monza were promoted to Serie A. Let’s hope that 2023 will be similar to 2022.”