AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer has insisted that the team have a chance of beating Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday.
The Rossoneri have lost six of their first 11 games to start a season for the first time since 1941-42 and have won only once in four games under Stefano Pioli, which includes damaging defeats against Lazio and Roma.
The start has thrown a lot of Milan’s aims for the season into serious doubt, with the last Europa League spot already eight points away ahead of tough games against Juve and Napoli.
Nonetheless Bennacer – who joined from Empoli in a €16m deal this summer and has so far been impressive – believes that he and his team-mates can get the job done in Turin.
“We are Milan, not Lecce,” the midfielder told La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews.it).
“Lecce drew with Juventus, so we can win. We just need to have the right spirit. In football, the small details are very important. If you make a mistake, so will your team-mate, and so forth.
“Maybe we have been lacking concentration, but we know and we are sad about it.
“Milan are a club with a great history and we need to pull through this, above all for our supporters.
“At the moment it’s hard, but our job is to work hard and look forward. We want to finish as high as we can, as close to the top as possible.”
Bennacer also compared Marco Giampaolo – who lasted just 111 days in charge before being sacked – and his replacement Pioli.
“Compared to Giampaolo, he’s more aggressive. He’s closer to us, he always talks to us. He also spoke to me eye to eye, he told me what he expects from me.
“He told me that I needed to spend more time on the ball, not always go vertical and control the tempo of the match in a better way.”
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