AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli was understandably full of praise for his side after their amazing 3-0 win over Juventus in Turin.
Milan secured their biggest three points of the season on Sunday night as they beat rivals Juve 3-0 at the Allianz Stadium. In truth it was a victory that Pioli’s men deserved as they seemed in control from start to finish, taking the lead through Brahim Diaz as the Spaniard netted with an excellent finish into the top corner.
Milan would net twice more inside the final 15 minutes too, with substitute Ante Rebic also thumping an effort into the top right corner and Fikayo Tomori scoring his first for the Rossoneri with a header from a free-kick. The win not only means that Milan are back in the top four, but by virtue of the aggregate score over the two games (4-3), they also have the head-to-head advantage over the Bianconeri too.
Pioli was interviewed by Sky Italia at the end of the game, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.
On the choice to play Brahim Diaz: “We always try to prepare a strategy for the game, then we choose the players suitable for the characteristics. Calhanoglu and Diaz are better at working on the frontline. Tonight it cannot be just a single, it is a team victory. We deservedly won. We are very happy for our fans who charged us this morning, now we have to think about the next one.”
On whether this is his best win as Milan boss: “We had a great match, a direct match at this moment in the season is very important. Unfortunately it is not the last game, we still have to fight. In this year and a half in Milan, the club made us work in the best conditions. possible, we share everything, joys and even some disappointments we have suffered “.
On the desire to fight physically being back: “I am always attentive to your evaluations, talk about a spirit of sacrifice and collaboration. I think we have been the best team in Italy for a long time in those characteristics. A little too many commitments, a little for our young age we left something on the street and paid a high price for it. We knew we had to bring such a performance, when there was the moment of contrasts and duels we did not hold back.”
On the defensive phase: “Juve are changing lately as so many teams are doing. I was not convinced they would have built with three, but we are prepared to be compact. When you have pressure on the ball carrier you can give yourself a few one on one. We have risked little except on Bentancur at the beginning of the second half. I saw the semi-finals of the Champions League and I was impressed by how the City and Chelsea players worked without the ball. If we combine quantity and quality we can become a team that can have its say in this Champions fight.”
The Brahim Diaz move, did you get inspiration from Guardiola?
“No, he’s been playing without strikers lately. We had him, even though Zlatan is an attacking playmaker. We were good at emptying and filling the spaces. I coach a very young team that is becoming mature. We were team after the wrong penalty “.
On Ibra: “Zlatan was not at 100%, he did half training with us on Friday. He didn’t want to miss. He had a sore knee, let’s hope it’s nothing serious. We will evaluate his situation in the next few days.”
