Stefano Pioli hopes Rafael Leao ‘stopped in time’ during a 2-0 win over Lazio and believes Milan are ‘not favourite’ against Inter in the Champions League semi-finals.
The Rossoneri secured a 2-0 win over Lazio at San Siro on Saturday, four days before the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Inter.
It had a bad start for the Rossoneri who saw their star Rafael Leao limp off the pitch after 11 minutes. Pioli spoke about the Portuguese’s condition during his post-match interview with DAZN and was asked more questions about the matter by journalists during a post-match interview attended by Football Italia.
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“He was smiling and he was feeling ok, I hope tomorrow he will come to the training ground feeling good,” said the Rossoneri coach.
“I trust him and I hope he will be there tomorrow. He stopped because he felt something, hopefully, he stopped in time; we’ll see tomorrow.”
Pioli was asked if Leao was already not fully fit before kick-off.
“Do you think I’d have played him?” he replied.
“I respect your job, but Rafa was feeling ok and these things happen. I didn’t deploy a player who wasn’t fit. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious and I hope he plays on Wednesday.”
The Rossoneri will meet Inter in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday and Pioli believes his side is not favourite. Milan have one win and two defeats in the previous three games with Inter this term.
“Inter are a great team, I don’t think we are favourite, but we don’t care about it,” said Pioli.
“We’ll enjoy everything surrounding us until 20:59 on Wednesday and then we’ll give all we have. We must feel this excitement. We have a dream and it would be great to fulfil it.”