AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has stressed the importance of getting Rafael Leao involved against Chelsea tonight, and also implored his team not to make similar mistakes as the first leg.
Milan were well beaten by tonight’s opponents in the meeting at Stamford Bridge last week as Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Reece James all scored in a comfortable 3-0 victory for Chelsea in west London.
Pioli spoke to SportMediaset in view of the match against Chelsea and the interview was released on the day of the game as he previewed a crucial game in the team’s European hopes, with MilanNews relaying his comments.
“If you make certain mistakes you have great opponents with great quality who take advantage of it. The technical level and the choices, the compactness of the team and the management of certain situations must be of a high level,” he said.
With Wesley Fofana out injured, Milan’s danger man Rafael Leao will have a new opponent to battle in Trevoh Chalobah (or potentially Cesar Azpilicueta) and with Theo Hernandez also back available, the battle between Milan’s left side of Leao-Theo versus Chelsea’s right with James-Chalobah will be crucial.
“Leao continues to be an important player for our attacking phase and is decisive. We only played three games in the Champions League but it is right to expect important performances from a player with his qualities and his talent,” Pioli said.
