Milan coach Stefano Pioli said he believes his side are deserving of first place going into the final match of the campaign but need to keep up their level of performance against Sassuolo to claim the Scudetto.
The Rossoneri go into their final day showdown with Sassuolo two points clear of Inter and know a point would guarantee them the title.
However, defeat would open the door for Inter to snatch it away with a win over Sampdoria and Pioli said nothing has been won yet.
Asked at a press conference ahead of their clash with Sassuolo whether his side deserved the title, Pioli told reporters: “I will tell you tomorrow.
“Today, in my opinion we deserve to be first. We have been the best team so far but need to be tomorrow [against Sassuolo].”
Pioli also praised his players’ ability to deal with the pressure of a title race which has gone right until the final day of the season.
He added: “I believe my players will sleep well. They are strange in a positive sense.
“I see the same behaviour even though inside there must be so many thoughts and emotions. I usually don’t sleep much after the matches and I hope it’s like that tomorrow.”
Milan are in incredible form, having won their last five matches to take advantage of Inter’s shock defeat at Bologna on April 27.
Since then, both sides have taken maximum points but Milan remain two points clear.
The Rossoneri are chasing a first Scudetto since 2010—and their 19th overall to bring them level with Inter.
A season full of last minute gifts from opponents and prearranged mistakes like Lazio giving up a goal in min 92 due to bad marking or Viola’s gift at end of the game to make sure Milan gets all 3 points does not mean a deserve Scudetto. If anyone noticed Milan has not dropped a single points in past 6 games against top of the table teams, not even a tie, if that’s not fishy and obvious that something beyond playing the game on the field is behind Milan sudden burst of success then what is??? Another tainted Scudetto, just like Calciopoli era!
Inter per sempre you are one to talk! Inter benefited the most from calciopoli and only won from 2006 onwards because they were not “caught” but actually all the big clubs in serie a are guilty
Milan deserve scudetto, not because they are stronger, but because Inter is much weaker than previous season and Juventus somehow lost their road.
@ Inter Per SEMPRE
Your comment is silly at best, downright stupid otherwise. We kept telling you Milan would have every chance against the top teams. The stats were there for all to see and we were relishing these fixtures instead of going up against the smaller sides. Only Inter fans were blind to see this, thinking and mentioning at every chance that Milan will surely drop points in the last 6 matches. Of course it hurts for you now.
And Milan winning matches with late goals is not fishy, refereeing gifting Inter points all season and stealing points Milan is what’s fishy.
Milan fully deserve their first place. Have some respect and keep quiet if you can’t acknowledge that.
@Inter Per SEMPRE you nailed it. I dont really comment on opponet team because i am die hard inter fan. But we are know , something is not right. Look at there match againt lazio and fiorentia even qgainst verona, the foul on verona player. I wont be surprice if they beat their last team tomorrow. Am very sure inter is the best team in seria this season but some how we lost heard around febuary . I think since madini and pioli started complaning about refrees since then the match have been coming their way. I will congratulate whom ever will tomorrow.
At the start of the season, I believe Inter was the fave for the scudetto. Even with Milan leading by 2 and Inter had that game in hand, I thought Inter had the upper hand. Even the late fixtures say so. So Milan had to fight and we fans had to hope and believe. Those who think Milan does not deserve where they are now are blind to the fact that they have a nonlosing record with the rest of the top 8 (draws only with Juve and even win-loss with Fiorentina)
Everyone has a right to say what they want to say, but AC Milan deserve this title, with all the injuries and Referee and Var mistakes they are still top, that’s amazing they have matured as a team, and have been playing very good football, for all the haters who say Milan don’t deserve it, or they are lucky, pls look at their matches, they are the only team in the League that has an advantage over all the other rivals, they have won home and away in very difficult stadiums, and even a blind man knows the standard of play in Serie’a in general has improved drastically, throughout history, AC Milan is a club that is always worthy of the trophy they win, so haters can go jump off a cliff….Roma , Inter, Lazio, Roma , Napoli Juventus all fell to the sword…so what are they saying…
The fact that Milan is challenging for and is on the verge of the Scudetto having played all season without a reliable Right Flank and an Attackin midfielder is already astonishing, considering the results. Inter have had a more complete squad all season. And now, trailing Milan into the last matchday, it is fishy that milan are ahead?! LOL!!! Look in the mirror and see where Inter had gone wrong up to this point. Quit blaming others.
Forza Milan!
ACM1899, I will congratulate you for scudetto. 🙂 You are one of the best Milan fans.
Yes Inter fans, something is not right. Despite buying refs in not just your games, but also Milan‘s, your pathetic team is still 2nd haha. Have some shame. You should already be conceding the scudetto to us. But no, you even tried to get a win in the courts against Bologna and see how that turned out 😂 We are the bigger club in Milano and you will always be in our shadow. Forza Milan
Tomorrow for Milan 🏆
The table doesn’t lie. As of today, Milan are the best team in Italy. That may take some getting over.
Tables never loe. It’s obvious whoever wins the scudetto deserves it. It means they have done better than others. But those who say refs were in Inter favour or Milan are just blinde. Refrees errors are a part of the game. Milan should thank Pioli and Maignan if they win the scudetto with their young and not-top players and Inter should blame themselves if they lose it as they couldn’t handle the pressure well when they had a busier schedule than Milan. And both Inter and Milan would deserve all the credit if they win the scudetto tomorrow. Let’s just enjoy the game. Forza Inter
@inter per Sempre, that’s the most stupid comment I have ever come across!
Inter had their faith in their own hands and lost to Bologna and Milan haven’t been crowned champions yet and you already make this shameless claims.. Winter champion should be enough for you guys this season.. I am sure it’s enough for Hakan haven’t won it twice already 😌
no way. didnt even beat juve once. lucky season for them
@ inter
But we beat YOU, didn’t we? lol
To the @inter guy in the comment right above “didnt even beat juve once”. Yes, but we somehow managed to beat Inter, lol
@InterFan75, how ironic.. you might want to rewind to the 2007-2010 Inter scudetti…
After the Calciopoli brought down a powerful Juve team and the great Milan of Carlo Ancelotti was going through it’s twilight years ?
Not only that, Inter spent the next 4 seasons pretty much picking the best Serie A players from Juve, Roma, etc. with no competition whatsoever (Ibrahimovic, Vieira, Chievo, Suazo, Mancini, Milito, Motta, etc.).
So don’t tell me this bs about Milan winning because everybody else is weaker.
Inter was still a powerful team this season and much better than all teams, except Milan, who were demonstrably better.
If anybody really thinks milan is the strongest side in serie a then serie a should be 7or8th best league in europe. Winners aren’t always the strongest. Just remember when Porto won the cl or Greece won ufc. What Ranieri did in EPL was amazing when he deservedly won it with Leicetercity but they surely weren’t the strongest team.
Inter fans when they are winning the league. “We are so good, this is the best league in the world”
Inter fans when they can’t buy a win from the refs. “This league is so corrupt.”
Deluded hypocrites.
Have fun selling off your best players this summer and having all your transfer targets move to bigger, better clubs.
This ‘Inter per SEMPRE’ is simply a pathetic crybaby who doesn’t deserve a proper answer, but only some good laughs.
But anyway… we will win this f… title: against all odds, against all suckers and morons.
FORZA MILAN!!!
@All-Inter, this is not a knock-down competition, it’s a league!!
The strongest team is the most consistent, which means the one that gathers most points. Being strong on paper is meaningless.
Status is meaningless, history is meaningless.
Head to head matches are also meaningless (exceptions aside).
But it’s funny that you mention Ranieri & Leicester, since Leicester that season were able to beat all the big teams like Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Man City, etc.
Just because Leicester doesn’t have the great history of other teams, or it’s uncommon to see a team like them compete and win, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve it.
Same goes for Verona in 1985 or Sampdoria in 1991.
The Inter of Mourinho in 2010 couldn’t win against their direct rival, AS Roma. They drew in Milano and lost the other one in Rome with that famous Luca Toni goal.
So does that mean they didn’t deserve to win the scudetto ?
Again, enough with this bs..
@ Always an interfan
Shame on you
@Jack
LOL great comment.
Hey guys, stop disrespecting the Winter Champions. That was won fairly on the pitch and just because the season has another 19 matches to play, doesn’t mean they did fully deserve that title.
Milan deserve it. Congratulations guys