Ibra the man, says Allegri

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said he believes Zlatan Ibrahimovic holds the key to their success this season.

Allegri oversaw his side’s 2-0 Champions League group-stage win over Czech side Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday, and he said his Swedish striker’s presence could mean silverware for the famous Italian club.

Ibrahimovic, 29, made a stunning return to matters on the field at San Siro – scoring a penalty and assisting Antonio Cassano for Milan’s second goal with a delightful first touch – and Allegri was clearly rapt with his performance on the night.

“It’s a great victory, and one worthy of following up our result at Barcelona,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.

“We alternated between good and bad tonight, but all in all the victory is deserved.”

“Ibrahimovic is a major player, and injects a great physicality into the team.”

The 41-year-old then immediately turned to their mouth-watering Serie A clash at Juventus Stadium on Sunday, which should see Robinho and Alexandre Pato make their awaited comebacks to action.

“When you win, you must physically recover first. For a month we have had so many commitments with the same nucleus of players, and today we admittedly struggled a bit with fatigue towards the end, and we could have played the ball better,” Allegri said.

“We will also see other players return, (such as) Robinho and Pato, and this means that I will have more options; maybe someone could be able to rest in a few games or also feature alongside Ibrahimovic and Cassano.”

Allegri added that one of his former players Andrea Pirlo, who has seemingly rolled back the years after a fine start to life at Juve, leads several threats that Milan must douse in their Serie A clash.

“Pirlo is another important player, and we will have to mark him but also others,” he said.

“Juventus have the advantage of playing just once a week, so it will be more difficult for us.”

Milan are second in Group H after their win, and will look to make it three wins on the trot against Antonio Conte’s high-flying outfit.