AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has insisted that his side need an ‘important performance’ against Dinamo Zagreb in order to maintain the ‘possibility of qualifying’.
Milan’s league form over the past few games has been exceptional with the 4-1 win over Monza on Saturday night enough to make it four victories in a row in Serie A, but now attention shifts back to the Champions League.
The Rossoneri were sat atop the group heading into the two meetings against Chelsea, but after losing both games by an aggregate score of 5-0 Milan have now slipped into third spot and need to win against Dinamo Zagreb and Red Bull Salzburg to make absolutely certain of reaching the knockouts.
Pioli spoke at his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game at the Stadion Maksimir, with his comments relayed by PianetaMilan.
How important is this game?
“Very, very. If we want to get to the last match of the group with the possibility of qualifying, we need an important performance and we have prepared it for the importance it has.”
What have you learned from the first game?
“That they close the spaces well, they counter well. They are complete and you have to pay attention. They are all individually on a good level, they are gaining great results.”
Is this the most important game since the Scudetto run-in?
“For me they all have an important specific weight. We face each game as the most important and the last one we can play. Certainly important, but we will play others. There will be no need to motivate, everyone knows how important it is.”
What must Milan do to win?
“To play compactly, every now and then we lose the distance and tomorrow it must not happen.”
How are your team?
“We arrive well, training is more useful for recovering, but we have reviewed the first leg and we arrive well.”
Is there anger?
“We don’t need anger, but concentration and clarity. At home, Dinamo haven’t lost since December 2021. Concentrated, but also convinced of our qualities.”
