AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has stressed the importance of continuing the trend of winning first legs at home in Europe, while also comparing the current squad to the one that won the Scudetto.
The magnitude of the tie between Milan and Roma needs no over-selling, given it is an all-Italian tie on the European stage between two sides in very good form with a spot in the semi-finals up for grabs.
The Rossoneri have won seven games in a row across all competitions and have taken command of second place in the table, but the Giallorossi have turned a corner under Daniele De Rossi and are very much in pursuit of a Champions League spot.
Pioli spoke alongside Ismael Bennacer to the reporters who gathered at Milanello on the eve of the first leg for his pre-match press conference, and his comments were relayed by MilanNews.
Since the away goals rule was scrapped in European competitions, Milan have always won the first at home. Without this rule does anything change?
“It doesn’t make that much of a difference. We have been used to playing first at home in the Europa League, against Rennes and Slavia we did well to take a good lead and that’s the objective for tomorrow’s match too. The match will last 180 minutes, we absolutely won’t be able to close the discussion tomorrow but taking a little more than our opponents would be very important.”
How have Roma changed under De Rossi? Does your position in the league help you manage your strength?
“I think that tomorrow evening De Rossi will field the best team to do very well, it is a very important objective for us and for them. We know each other well, they come from a derby won and have only lost against Inter under De Rossi’s management.
“We are absolutely not thinking about Sassuolo or the league but about tomorrow’s match, and they will be the same. Roma have changed their positions to defend and attack, we have not revisited the league matches but we have concentrated only on the matches under De Rossi.”
Is this Milan, as Bennacer said, stronger than the Scudetto year?
“In my opinion, Isma used a term that I think is more correct: it’s a different Milan. Many players have changed, the approach, the way of playing has changed. That was a Milan that achieved an incredible victory, this is a Milan who is trying to get back to winning.
“We are in a good moment, but now comes the most important moment of the season which will decide the evaluations at the end of the season, what we have done, our positive or negative path.
“This is the moment which we must demonstrate our strength, demonstrate that the journey we have had through ups and downs has improved us. It depends on us.”
Are Roma more of a group now? What matters more on these evenings, the European mentality or being a team?
“Being a team always counts much more than the rest. I think De Rossi is doing an excellent job, the most important thing for a coach is to be credible, to be followed by the team and to have the team give him total availability in his attitude. This can be seen in Roma.
“It wasn’t easy to overcome a team that defended with many players when Mourinho was there, probably tomorrow we will find a different opponent with different characteristics. We have suffered both deeper teams and aggressive teams, I honestly don’t know what choices De Rossi will make.
“Many teams use a strategy before facing Milan, then when they face Milan, knowing the qualities of our attacking players, they interpret it in another way. We know Roma and their important players but we don’t know what we will find tomorrow.
“We are prepared and mature to immediately read what they will grant us to exploit our characteristics and what their attitudes will be.”
What is different about Milan-Roma in the Europa League compared to Milan-Roma in the league?
“I believe that the atmosphere will be that of a European competition. I believe that at this point, ok, the Champions League is the Champions League and yesterday we witnessed two matches of a fantastic technical level, but with important errors.
“I tried to watch the yesterday’s matches only as a fan to enjoy the show, but then clearly the role of coach takes over. In Real-City the teams made two errors in the first goals conceded which were evident in the defensive phase.
“They however continued to play aware of their quality and with a very clear game plan, with trust and conviction. I believe that is the most important thing for a team, overcoming difficulties within a match because the opponent is also there.
“Tomorrow we cannot think of neutralising Roma completely in every way. Roma have strong players and play well. We will try to be more effective than them but it must not take away energy and confidence if on some occasions they get the better of us, put us in difficulty or we concede a goal.
“We must continue to play and believe in our qualities because we have them and we can be dangerous throughout the match.”
What would you be willing to risk to give the fans a show like there was in Real Madrid vs. Manchester City?
“We always take risks in how we want to play, we are a team devoted to attacking football. As long as we have the ball we will try to put the opponent in difficulty, when we don’t have the ball we will try to take it away from them as soon as possible.
“If you want to be an attacking side that enhances its technical potential you take some risks, you inevitably concede some space if you lose the ball. I believe that tomorrow, in terms of mentality, two teams will face each other who on paper should be visually good spectacle, with quality players who can score spectacular goals like those of last night.”
As a style of play, is that where your Milan need to arrive, the levels of Real-City?
“We reached the semi-finals last year, it means that we were there. Then we didn’t succeed because we arrived there at that moment not in the best possible condition because we found a group that was superior in those two matches there.
“I don’t think we are far off. The Europa League is below the Champions League, but from now on they are great teams. No one would be surprised if we, Liverpool or Bayer Leverkusen played the Champions League.
“Our group [from the Champions League] is the only one that has two teams in the quarter-finals, we missed the small spurt. But now we have an important objective. We can play modern football, with pace, intensity, position, individual plays.”
How close are you to becoming a cup manager?
“I don’t believe in these distinctions, I believe in the way my team plays and we are a team that, thanks to ideas, will and concepts, can play modern football, with pace, intensity and unpredictability. We can be competitive in Italy and in Europe. The club’s objective is to continually improve, you have to work hard and have faith in the players.”
What changes without Tomori?
“Fik has characteristics of great speed, great aggression, which the others have less, but we will try to field characteristics that can adapt well to Roma’s attackers. The physical conditions of Thiaw and Kjaer are the same at the moment, so I will choose based on the opponent and the positions they will have to take.”
What shouldn’t Milan do tomorrow?
“We have to play the whole match with attention, quality, intensity and maximum minute by minute. In these important matches you have to face every situation with the best of yourself, individually and collectively.”
“We reached the semi-finals last year, it means that we were there.”
That’s a bold claim from a man eliminated twice in the group phase, who lost 4 games against Liverpool and Chelsea and whose bracket to the semi-finals didn’t include Manchester City, Bayern, Real Madrid or PSG.
Appreciate your team for once atlist we played Napoli Tottenham there are good teams as well we will only get better
We did well against Tottenham and Napoli but we ruined it against Inter (who was ranked worse than Napoli at that time and wasn’t having a great season).
Just go and support another team, is that difficult for you to do ?