As Udinese prepare to commence their 50th season in Serie A – and 28th consecutive year in the top flight – Andrea Sottil sat down with Udinese TV to preview the new campaign.
As destiny would have it, Saturday's opponents AC Milan are the same team Udinese faced in their first ever Serie A fixture, way back on 10 September 1950.
You've worked your way up the leagues and now you're set for your Serie A debut in the dugout. How do you feel?
"I have lots of different, incredible feelings. I look back to when I started in 2011 with Siracusa and now I'm the coach of Udinese. It gives me a huge sense of professional satisfaction. The time I spent in the lower leagues has helped me to improve and now I'm ready for my debut – what's more at San Siro against the reigning champions. I'm really up for it and focused on what we need to do but I can't deny I'm a little nervous too.”
It will be a historic day for Udinese as the club enters its 50th season in Serie A, becoming the 13th club to reach the landmark.
"It's a fantastic achievement that few clubs can match and it's something to be proud of. That's another reason why we need to get off to a good start with a big performance. The lads are ready. They've been working with great intensity and focus and we head into this match have the right approach.
What have you been working on since the game against Feralpi?
"You have to work on everything but we've focused mainly on our shape, on moving as a unit and defending as a team. Obviously we're also continuing to work on our attacking play as this team have shown their quality.We've worked on both aspects using videos and practising on the pitch.
But I've been drumming in the importance of our defensive movement. We have some excellent defenders but they need a bit more time to take on board the tactical ideas, especially those who have come in from other leagues. The good thing is they're all very willing to put in the graft.”