Pioli reveals motivation for giving Bakayoko his first start and admits plan to 'frustrate' Sassuolo

Ahead of the game between AC Milan and Sassuolo, which will kick off at 15:00 CET, Stefano Pioli answered the questions of the media. The Rossoneri want to bounce back from the defeat at Fiorentina last weekend.

Pioli’s men, despite the first league defeat last weekend, won’t be lacking confidence as they managed to beat Atletico Madrid away from home mid-week. They are still level with Napoli on points as the Partenopei lost against Inter last weekend.

In an interview with DAZN, as cited by MilanNews, Pioli shared his thoughts on the game. He also spoke about giving Tiemoue Bakayoko his first start of the season.

“He starts from the beginning because I really liked how he came on against Madrid. He found a good condition. It took him some time to better understand some situations he wasn’t so used to. He is a strong player, I’m sure he will be ready,” Pioli said.

Thanks to their win last night, Inter are now just one point behind Milan so the pressure is on the Rossoneri to build on the mid-week success. They are the clear favourites but they cannot afford to make any Fiorentina-esque mistakes this afternoon.

On Sassuolo, Pioli added: “During the match there are two phases of the game, we will try to be proactive with the ball at our feet. Sassuolo have excellent ball possession, we will try to frustrate them and not let them play cleanly.”