Alessandro Florenzi insists Milan lost to Monza ‘wanting to win too much,’ prepares for Rennes and describes Rafael Leao as ‘an artist’ of football.
The first leg was a 3-0 victory at San Siro and the decider kicks off at Roazhon Park on Thursday at 17.45 GMT.
However, the mood was damaged by the 4-2 Serie A defeat to Monza on Sunday, when Luka Jovic saw red.
“Obviously, we are angry over the defeat to Monza, but I always thought there has to be a certain balance when dealing with both victories and defeats,” Florenzi told Sky Sport Italia.
“We are not superstars when we win and we are not flops when we lose. There are incidents that can affect a performance and we take the blame for the defeat to Monza.”
Coach Stefano Pioli was criticised for excessive squad rotation in the trip to Monza, when he perhaps should’ve rested stars for Rennes instead.
“I don’t think that created problems. For instance, when Davide Calabria is fit, I do not feel like a reserve player, we are all first choices for Milan. We must play and prove ourselves on the pitch.
“The mistake we made in Monza was wanting to win it so much once we got back to 2-2. We had clawed it back from 2-0 down with 10 men and we wanted to go on and win it. That is not a bad thing.”
Milan dropped down from the Champions League in third place and are therefore in this Europa League play-off.
“Tomorrow will be a battle, but we must not think too much about the first leg result with Rennes. We have to take it one game at a time. We know that we are a strong team that can aim to win something important.”
Rafael Leao continues to put in very inconsistent performances and Florenzi has an interesting way of describing the positives and negatives of a talent like this.
“He is young, but very eager to learn. Every now and then, he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, but he’s an artist! He knows that he can improve.”
Florenzi a Sky: "Arrabbiati per Monza ma ci vuole equilibrio. Leao? Ogni tanto ha la luna storta, è un artista" https://t.co/owplw66j4H
— MilanNews.it (@MilanNewsit) February 21, 2024