Stefano Pioli assures Milan ‘must be ambitious in the Champions League and fear nothing’ as they march into the knockout stages. ‘We are Champions of Italy.’
The Rossoneri knew a point would suffice against RB Salzburg to secure their place in the Round of 16, but still thumped the Austrians 4-0 at San Siro to make sure.
They go through second behind Chelsea, so their opponents will be one of FC Porto, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.
“It doesn’t matter who we meet, it will in any case be stimulating and difficult,” Pioli told Amazon Prime Video Italia.
“We are Champions of Italy and must play our football, trying to go as far as possible. There’s no need to be afraid of anything. Now we’ve got to get back on track in Serie A, stay as close as we can to Napoli, who are on a remarkable run.
“We must be ambitious in the Champions League and fear nothing. Whoever we are drawn against will find a Milan side with belief.”
Olivier Giroud bagged a brace and assisted Rade Krunic, who had been a surprise starter in the trequartista role, with Junior Messias rounding out the result with a stoppage-time curler.
“We played with desire to create danger against Salzburg, who defended with very tight lines. After the second goal, we managed to take even more control of the game and dominated.
“It was a very good Champions League match, with end to end attacking and high tempo, so I am satisfied.”
Pioli said before kick-off that Krunic was there to bring ‘balance’ to the midfield and attack, rather than Brahim Diaz or Charles De Ketelaere.
“We prepared the game to have more width than Salzburg, bringing Rafael Leao closer to Giroud. The cross-field passes were situations that could give us an advantage and we made more of them than we did last time against Salzburg.”
When these sides met in Austria back in September, it ended 1-1.
He was to blame against Torino, but his tactics were spot on here. Releasing Theo down the left wreaked havoc through Salzburg’s lines.