AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has reflected on a ‘painful’ victory for his side against Sampdoria, and discussed how Rafael Leao will be replaced.
Milan ended up making hard work of things against a Sampdoria side who have struggled to begin the season with just two points from their opening five games before meeting the Rossoneri, but Pioli’s men did triumph 2-1.
Junior Messias gave Milan the lead with a smart low finish early on, but Rafael Leao was given a second yellow card less than a minute into the second half for a high boot and Filip Djuricic headed in the equaliser not long after.
Milan would escape from the Marassi with three points though as VAR awarded a penalty for a handball after Olivier Giroud’s header from a corner, and the Frenchman tucked away the spot kick.
Pioli spoke to Sky after the game to reflect on the performance and the result, with his comments relayed by MilanNews and translated below.
On Tonali: “He is an important player. He has never stopped believing in his qualities and has become a complete midfielder. But he knows he can do even more. The renewal is deserved, he feels inside everything and takes it on field.”
On the victory: “It’s important because it was a painful and desired victory. We had an excellent second half, we could have scored more goals. We bring home an important victory. Sampdoria are not easy to face here. We wanted to approach the game well and we did it.”
On Leao and De Ketelaere: “Whenever an attacker defends the ball and the defender throws himself on the ground, the attacker gets a yellow card. I’m sorry for Rafa, someone else will play next Sunday. De Ketelaere is not getting in slowly, he is doing everything we are asking of him.”
On Milan-Napoli: “Both teams can lose a lot without Leao and Osimhen. Maybe we lose more because Rebic probably won’t be there either. It was a heavy week, we have another Champions League match which is very heavy for the team. We think about that, then we will think about Napoli. Leao is crucial for us, but we will find other solutions.”
On what he says to the players before the matches: “I had seen Leao joking a lot in the first part of the warm-up. When that’s the way it is usually good, he told me not to worry, maybe I had to tell him something (smiles). I like it being close to the boys before matches. Sometimes I have to reassure them, other times I have to stimulate them. It’s part of our way of working.”
On referees in Italy and Europe: “The players adapt to the refereeing method. In Salzburg the half contacts never whistled them and the players never said anything. In the derby we played 47 minutes of actual football. If the referees they whistle less, the players adapt. There is a difference between Italy and Europe.”
