Stefano Pioli reveals why Ruben Loftus-Cheek ‘surprised’ him at Milan, where Rafael Leao needs to improve and keeping focused after the 3-0 win over Rennes.
The Rossoneri have given themselves a comfortable first leg lead to take to France for the Europa League play-off decider on Thursday February 22, thanks to a pair of Loftus-Cheek headers and the first Rafael Leao goal since January 10.
This was not a result to be taken for granted, as Rennes were coming off eight consecutive victories in all competition.
“We immediately gave ourselves a target after the Champions League disappointment, starting with the Europa League play-offs,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“The team played well, but it was not easy against a Rennes side that is very dangerous on the counter-attack and in great form. This is a good advantage for the first leg, but we know anything can happen in football and we must be fully concentrated in the second leg.”
Loftus-Cheek scored two goals and is on sparkling form at the moment, especially since moving to a more advanced trequartista role behind the centre-forward.
“Ruben only had a few fitness issues and was playing for a while without being able to train. When he is in good physical shape, and finally he is now, he can make a huge impact, especially getting into the box.
“I’ll be honest, Ruben is more attacking and with more quality than I expected. He had played against us as a midfielder in the Champions League for Chelsea and was a box-to-box player, but did not seem to have this quality and physicality sufficient to be such an important player in the attacking phase.
“I trained Sergej Milinkovic-Savic as a kid at Lazio and he is the player who reminds me the most of Loftus-Cheek in terms of quality, physicality and running forward. We are happy for him, as he is truly a fantastic guy.”
Rafael Leao had not found the net for over a month and Pioli always assured there was no concern at the drought.
“It’s only normal he wants to score, but Rafa was always calm and made the difference with assists during this period and has always been at the centre of our attacking phase. Clearly, we want him to be in the box more, he is starting to do that, but in general he has always been involved in the team’s victories.”
Leao had threatened to score earlier in the game, but the strike was deflected onto the crossbar. Will he always try to go for the spectacular?
“It’s natural Leao will always seek the aesthetically pleasing and we have no intention of taking that away from him, but he knows where he has to improve in being more of a striker, scoring a few more goals and being in the box more consistently.”
Pioli changed tactics at half-time, confessing he was surprised by the position of Bejnamin Bourigeaud, who initially was followed by Theo Hernandez, but later on was tracked by Yunus Musah.
“We did not expect Bourigeaud to cut inside so much, at a certain point Leao ended up having to chase down his opponent for the entire flank and those are not Rafa’s strengths. The Rennes coach was smart to do that, so we put Musah on Bourigeaud and had Theo Hernandez just matched with the opposite full-back.”
There was more good news, as Malick Thiaw made his comeback three months after a serious thigh strain.
Milan really are finding their feet, as they have won five of their last six competitive matches, held 2-2 only by Bologna in Serie A.
It is also their second consecutive clean sheet after the 1-0 win over Napoli.
“You must never relax. We’ve been doing well since the start of the year, but the difficult moments will come and the Europa League is a strain playing on Thursday. You can tell we are in good shape at the moment both physically and mentally, but we must continue with that attitude.”
. @acmilan, le parole di #Pioli: "Non è ancora finita. #Leao è sempre stato sereno" https://t.co/Li2yncrCXc
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) February 15, 2024