Stefano Pioli maintains he has more to give at Milan even after Scudetto capitulation to Inter, pointing out ‘Simone Inzaghi was struggling 14 months ago and look what he achieved.’
The Rossoneri knew they had to avoid defeat in order to postpone the Scudetto celebration, but lost their sixth Derby della Madonnina in a row.
Francesco Acerbi was allowed a free header on a corner and Marcus Thuram drilled in from the edge of the box, while the Fikayo Tomori tap-in was too little, too late.
“I tried to raise the morale of the lads, as clearly it’s a painful defeat for everything that is behind it. I tried as much as possible to reassure my players, because we need to end the season well, we have another important game on Saturday,” Pioli told DAZN.
“Unfortunately, we were again unable to even get a draw in this derby.”
Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria were both sent off, so will be suspended against Juventus in the next round, a head-to-head for second place.
The coach had gambled with Rafael Leao as a False 9, Christian Pulisic on the left and Yunus Musah moved to the right, while for much of the game they played with three at the back.
“The priority was to take away the parity of the two against two in attack and find space for the counter-attacks. We went behind, I think Inter hurt us only on that corner and the counter-attacks, but when you are chasing the game, you have to take risks.
“We had a good situation with Rafa, but we wanted to defend deeper to avoid what happened in the second half with the Thuram goal. The team fought with determination and desire, we didn’t have that little pinch of luck that could’ve given us a draw, because we did create the chances.”
Inter are 17 points clear of Milan in the Serie A table now. Is the difference between the squads really that big?
“Inter had an exceptional campaign, they only lost one match, but for three or four years now nobody can doubt they have had the strongest squad in the league. As for us, we dropped points in some crucial games and lacked consistency.
“If the gap between Inter and the chasing pack is that big, it means they are a very strong team and we all have to step up a level.”
Pioli on late season collapse
Milan not only faltered in Serie A, but also crashed out of the Champions League and over the last week the Europa League too, losing both legs to Roma in the quarter-final.
“We were coming off seven wins in a row, so the two Europa League matches against Roma were not what we wanted or expected. We had everyone in great shape and feeling confident, but we put in two performances that were below our standards.
“The derby then happened to be next up. I think it was probably the most balanced derby of recent meetings, we were unlucky.”
Pioli was asked if this is the end of an era, especially amid reports he will leave at the end of the season?
“I don’t know. Inzaghi seemed to be struggling 14 months ago according to the media and look what he achieved after that. I am happy here, I work well and I think the team has margin for improvement.
“We’ll see where we all are at the end of the season and discuss it.”
balanced derby…..inter should’ve been three up at half time