Massimiliano Allegri has admitted that AC Milan ‘made a lot of mistakes’ and are in a negative moment after their loss to Sassuolo.
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Milan seem determined to take the top four race right down to the wire as they were beaten by Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon in Reggio Emilia. Domenico Berardi and Armand Lauriente got the goals – as they so often have against the Rossoneri – to make it a fun afternoon in the sun for the home fans.
Fikayo Tomori’s red card after the first goal for getting two yellows was another symbol of a dreadful day for Milan, one which means they still require six points from their last three games in order to seal a return to the Champions League.
Allegri dissects difficult day
Allegri spoke to DAZN after the final whistle to give his immediate thoughts following yet another difficult day for his side, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews.
It’s been an extremely negative moment. Milan didn’t have a bad approach before, but today it was the complete opposite. What happened to this team?
“It’s something we approached poorly. We conceded a goal after four minutes, but especially the second-half goal, even with ten men, you can’t concede after a minute.
“Unfortunately, this is a time like this. We’ve thrown away a wild card. Now we have a week to prepare for the Bergamo match. We certainly can’t throw away ten months of work done in a certain way.”
The feeling was that everyone wanted the ball at their feet. There was little technical clarity, even in the positions…
“Technically, we made a lot of mistakes. It was a Sunday to forget, but it must give us the strength to bounce back on Tuesday and prepare well for the match against Atalanta.”
Is the Champions League at risk?
“It’s not that it’s at risk. I’ve always said I’d be very happy to be in it, even on the last day, because I live with the team every day and I live the moments.
“We’ve never had difficult moments, this is one of them, and we have to be good at staying calm, taking responsibility, and going to work for a week to prepare for the match against Atalanta.”
Is there a positive thing you can say to the fans today?
“The message is that 10 months of important work have been done, but now we’re in the final rush, and unfortunately the second half of the season didn’t go very well.
“But we can’t change what’s been done. We all have to prepare for the final matches together. We have to stay in the game until the end. Even in difficult moments, we have to work hard to overcome them.”
Did you say anything to Tomori about the expulsion?
“Playing with 10 men for 70 minutes wasn’t easy, but these things happen in football. The important thing is to get your head up and get back on your feet quickly.
“Thinking about what happened today or in the 16 games of the second half of the season is pointless. We just need to get two results out of three to try to reach the Champions League.”
The fans seem very worried and disappointed…
“I understand them because everyone wanted to get to this goal quickly. Football is also like that: getting anxious is pointless. You just need to work with great focus and a sense of responsibility.”
You brought Nkunku off at half-time. Why?
“I wanted to keep the game going as long as possible because we were a goal down and therefore create more balance, but it was no use because after a minute we conceded and therefore went 2-0 down.”