Tijjani Reijnders spoke frankly in an interview with The Athletic: “We can’t say we had a good season.” He added: “At Milan, you have to fight for the Scudetto and progress in the Champions League. That didn’t happen. Fortunately, we have this final and can win another trophy, but my feelings are contradictory.”

This season, where Milan fell far behind in the Serie A title race, has been disappointing for Reijnders: “It’s really frustrating because we have the quality. One day we beat Real Madrid, the next we draw with Cagliari. With the arrival of the new coach, everything changed. He has a fresh perspective and needs to quickly implement it with the team. Sometimes luck wasn’t on our side, sometimes we had a poor start. We should have improved certain aspects faster.”

Reijnders warned about tonight’s final: “We have a tough opponent. They press man-to-man all over the pitch, so we need to be very mobile. They have high quality with the ball and dangerous wingers. But we shouldn’t be afraid. We are AC Milan, and we must prove it on the pitch.”

Individually, Reijnders has had a successful season: “I consider myself an all-round midfielder; I contribute to playmaking, providing assists, or entering the box to score. As a child, I looked up to Iniesta from Barcelona’s golden era. Later, I followed Kevin De Bruyne and learned from YouTube videos how he scans the field before receiving the ball. I try to play the same way.”

Despite offers from the Premier League, he extended his contract until 2030 and confidently spoke about his future at Milan: “We need to start from the basics. We can’t look too far ahead. Right now, only tonight’s final matters.”