AC Milan’s mission to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League got a lot more complicated after last night’s draw at San Siro against Cremonese.
While Milan were unable to beat a team who are seemingly heading for relegation, the other teams fighting for the top four spots – with the exception of Roma – all won and now the Rossoneri are fifth in the standings, level on points against Atalanta and Roma and two behind Inter in fourth.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) recalls, head coach Stefano Pioli also expressed his concern after the game in which yet more points were dropped after the frustrating recent results against Salernitana, Empoli and Bologna.
“We are disappointed, in the most absolute way. We didn’t want a result like this, there are only a few games left to go and if we don’t change gears, we will struggle to finish in the top four,” he said.
“We have to be good at transforming this disappointment in three days into a better performance. We have to grow in the scoring phase. We got into the area many times but then we didn’t take the lead, and it has already happened in other matches as well.
“After that it got complicated and we struggled more. We have lost clarity and precision, thinking individually and no longer as a team. This didn’t help us.”
Pioli not only hoped to win yesterday evening, but also to have positive responses from his reserve options, who disappointed once again and demonstrated that the gap with the starters is quite evident.
On Saturday at San Siro against Lazio the ‘first choice’ starting line-up should be back out there, looking for a win to ease the tension in the top four race.
