Stefano Pioli feels ‘the ball just didn’t want to go in’ during the goalless draw with Empoli and explains the importance of the early goal in Milan’s victory over Napoli, warning the Champions League will be different.
Coming just days after a 4-0 victory away to Napoli, this was a very frustrating evening for the Rossoneri, held to a goalless draw at San Siro by mid-table Empoli.
When they did get a breakthrough, VAR intervened to first revoke a penalty for Tyronne Ebuehi’s handball, then disallow Olivier Giroud’s header for a handling offence.
“It is certainly not the result we wanted and our regrets are more about the first half, where we could’ve pushed harder. We played with intensity, allowing Empoli nothing at all, and did everything we needed to in the second half to win the game, but the ball didn’t want to go in,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“This is a pity, but the team is in good shape. The result is negative, but not the performance.”
There was domination with 70 per cent possession and numerous attempts, including a Samuele Perisan save on Brahim Diaz and Alessandro Florenzi hitting the woodwork, but this once again proved that Pioli cannot afford to rotate the squad with five changes.
“Clearly we expect goals from the strikers and we did create the chances, but we should’ve filled the penalty area better not just with the forwards, also the full-backs and midfielders. We were lacking something.”
Despite the numerous changes, Charles De Ketelaere barely made a late cameo in this match, while Divock Origi and Ante Rebic were jeered off.
“If Rebic or Origi had scored their chances with a little more luck, the evaluation of their performances would’ve changed. Charles does everything in training to make me change my mind, he is ready to contribute and he will. When a team dominates the match and doesn’t score, that is a problem.
“De Ketelaere works with the same quality and intensity as his teammates in training, I just made so many changes today and didn’t want more. You all said finally Bennacer a trequartista and three midfielders, now you complain.”
Milan got stronger as the game wore on, not just because they introduced the first-choice players, and that bodes well going into a packed fixture list.
“It had been a long time since we played with this intensity, focus and energy. I am disappointed, there’s no getting around it, we are Milan and should be beating Empoli at home, but I continue to see improvements in our fitness levels and the way we play.”
Pioli was praised for the tactical changes he made for the 4-0 victory over Napoli, so will he try to repeat everything when they meet again in the Champions League on Wednesday or find a different surprise for Luciano Spalletti?
“I didn’t find any surprises, I just picked a balanced team that was suited to the situation. I think above all in Naples we wanted it more and that makes a big difference. That won’t be the case on Wednesday.
“Don’t forget we scored at our first real chance, so Napoli opened up spaces and that is where we thrive, whereas today Empoli closed up all the spaces. Games change in those situations.
“We will analyse the match we played against Napoli, there are things we could’ve done better and they created chances with their full-backs, so we need to be solid and prepared for anything they might do differently too.
“Playing the Champions League at San Siro is always exciting and we are looking forward to it. Don’t forget only Napoli, Bayern Munich and Benfica are both in the Champions League quarter-final and top of their domestic tournaments, so that shows you what a season they are having.”