Stefano Pioli has admitted that “a great club” like Milan should play to win the Coppa Italia as “all the big clubs focus on this competition”.
Milan are preparing to face SPAL in the last 16 of the tournament and will host the team from Ferrara on Wednesday night.
Pioli concedes that there’s no point looking “too far ahead” and is only focused on their next match.
Stefano Pioli has admitted that “a great club” like Milan should play to win the Coppa Italia as “all the big clubs focus on this competition”.
Milan are preparing to face SPAL in the last 16 of the tournament and will host the team from Ferrara on Wednesday night.
Pioli concedes that there’s no point looking “too far ahead” and is only focused on their next match.
“The Coppa Italia is an important competition,” Pioli said. “It has always been and is even more now that it helps you qualify for the Europa League.
“All the big clubs focus on this competition. We are a great club, we have a great history, so the Coppa Italia should be an important objective to achieve. But it’s useless to look too far ahead, if you don’t look at the hurdle tomorrow night.
“We will have a tough match against SPAL, a normal battle in Italy and we must be prepared.”
Pioli has admitted that Milan’s home form has been poor this term and hope to turn things around with a win in the cup.
“We haven’t collected enough wins in front of our own fans,” Pioli said at a press conference. “Games that had to be unlocked and perhaps we should have won, I won’t say easily, but situations where we should have brought home the win.
“For now, we have to focus on the present, our future and what tomorrow’s game is, which is an important game that we care about.”
Milan have gained some confidence after their 2-0 win against Cagliari at the Sardegna Arena and Pioli is looking to build on the good result.
“We played like a determined team,” Pioli said. “We made the right choices. We fought Cagliari with the same aggression and strength they know how to put out into their home games.
“We took our chances at the right time; we were concrete and efficient. We will have to build on this path, these characteristics that we have been missing in the past and that must be in our present performances.”