Stefano Pioli warns Milan not to let the Coppa Italia defeat to Inter influence their Serie A form ahead of the trip to Lazio. ‘We want to push beyond our limits to take something that at the start of the season seemed impossible.’
The match kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The coach announced in his press conference that Ismael Bennacer is out of action after an injury, joining Simon Kjaer and Alessandro Florenzi on the treatment table.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ante Rebic and Alessandro Romagnoli are confirmed back on the bench.
“We are fully aware of the journey we are on and it’s the most electrifying, exhilarating and exciting one we could experience. We are motivated and concentrated on tomorrow’s match,” said Pioli.
Fresh from a 3-0 Coppa Italia semi-final defeat to Inter, and with a recent slowdown in performances and results in Serie A, there is the risk of momentum leaning towards the Nerazzurri.
“Our fans have already won the Scudetto, because they are the best. They protect us, motivate us and having them in such big numbers at the Olimpico tomorrow will be a huge push. We know what we want to do.”
Ibrahimovic has been sorely missed, with very few goals in recent matches, as Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao look exhausted from the lack of squad rotation.
“Zlatan is the shining light of this team. His willpower is indomitable, he is doing everything to be help the team and be at their disposal. Rebic has this chronic tendinitis in his knee, he’s had two days of physiotherapy and is now ready.
“Lazio have great attacking potential with a lot of quality players. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s characteristics are an important resource for Lazio, we worked on pressing him with a midfielder and could do it again tomorrow. We need a performance full of quality, as if we can pass it around well, then we can find some intriguing spaces.
“It’s true we have not scored as much as we could’ve done, especially considering the statistics. Let us not forget we are either first or second right now, as Inter have a game in hand, and we want to stay up there to the end and win every game.
“Losing the derby midweek was disappointing and won’t help us, but that is a different competition and we cannot allow it to affect our Serie A performance. We didn’t do well in the decisive moments of that match and will learn from the experience.
“At this stage last season, we didn’t know if we would finish in the top four, whereas this time we are challenging for the Scudetto. There is tension and emotion, we want to push beyond our limits to take something that at the start of the season seemed impossible. As always, fiery heart and cool head are what we need.”
Pioli revealed something else he has learned in his time as a Serie A boss, including his experience at Lazio.
“The first year was wonderful, that Lazio played some beautiful football. As a coach my only regret is the second year at Lazio, when I didn’t deal with certain dynamics that today I would treat differently.”
#Milan, #Pioli: ‘Nessun caso Rebic, sta bene. Ibra ok, viene a Roma. Bennacer fuori. Sul cambio di proprietà…’ https://t.co/S2xnlpzT9C pic.twitter.com/2S5aEydiOY
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) April 23, 2022
Dejavu
Pioli always was falling n failing at the end.
As Inter fan i’m not scared at all Pioli’s Milan.
‘…something that at the start of the season seemed impossible’. Looks like he has memory disorder, Milan and Napoli were top of the table at the start of the season (at least until week 12).
He just tried to excuse the regret, instead at the beginning of Serie A this season Milan has run very fast and lead Inter by 7 points clear.
2nd chance came when Inter failed several time last month but again Milan could not take that advantage.
AC Milan squad may not be enough to compete, only Raphael Leao is valuable.
We can’t achieve this while we can’t score and Inter have a game in hand.
Considering we can’t spend much and we don’t have good squad depth, we have probably overachieved this season.
I’d love the Scudetto for Milan but we’re a little bit off.
With your very questionable substitution we never push beyond limits