Torino head coach Ivan Juric praised his side for their excellent effort as they recorded a huge home win over AC Milan, ending the Rossoneri’s unbeaten away league run at 17 games.
The amount of rotation that Stefano Pioli made was evident as the team displayed probably their most disjointed and incoherent performance of the season. Rafael Leao missed two good early chances, then Torino scored twice in quick succession as an unmarked Djidji headed a free-kick past Ciprian Tatarusanu and Aleksei Miranchuk the beat him with a low shot.
Junior Messias did get one back in the second half but no big chances followed that would allow the Rossoneri to even snatch a point from the game, and the Serie A winning run was ended at four games.
Juric spoke to reporters after the game at the conference room of the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino after the victory against Milan to talk about his side’s performance, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
On Pellegri: “He has been with us for 10 months. It took a lot of patience. Milan tried for 6 months, because all those who understand football understand the boy’s potential. He has worked hard, he manages to train continuously, let him grow slowly, even if it has done very well in the last three.”
Was it a test of maturity, especially in the final stages? “They are a very young team, you need to have balance, more calm and enjoy the moment. Don’t delude yourself and don’t be too disappointed when things go wrong: you have to stay calm.”
What did you think when he did not see Leao return in the second half? “I thought Rebic is very strong and we had to be careful all the same. Mister Pioli wanted to shake up the team and he tried with the substitutions.”
Did you take off a weight by beating a big one? “This situation didn’t bother me.”
What did you say to the team? “They were happy. We didn’t talk to each other.”
How much are the team growing in personality? “At the beginning they made two dangerous actions. Life is like this, maybe they could score and they didn’t. The moments determine the trend, but after those 5-6 minutes we didn’t concede anything to Milan.”
Did the game go the way you prepared it? “They did well in the first 5-6 minutes, with the ball stolen by Pobega and then played by Diaz, in a more intense way than us. Then the team have always remained focused.”
What did you say to the referee? How many rounds of suspension do you expect? “Zero insults, swear words, nothing. It seemed to me a clear foul. After Inter last year I am very attentive to their explanations, Inter’s one is still inexplicable for me. Today’s one maybe you see it again and it doesn’t seem like a foul. understanding for them too because maybe they make mistakes and we need to understand the moments.”
