Pioli gives interesting response to pre-Juve question: “What do you want me to expect?”

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli believes that his side have the quality to beat Juventus this evening, and insisted that the noise from outside is not effecting him.

Milan face off against Juve this evening hoping to take a big step towards sealing second spot in the table, given there is a five point gap between the teams at present that could be further enlarged.

Pioli answered some questions in his pre-match press conference about where the Rossoneri go from here after a very difficult recent period, also confirming Rafael Leao will be captain.

There is once again a defensive emergency for the Milan biss to try and navigate, one that begins with the injured centre-back duo of Simon Kjaer and Pierre Kalulu, and then the suspended Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria.

Pioli spoke to DAZN before kick-off at the Allianz Stadium, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.

What do you expect from your Milan today?

“What do you want me to expect? That we play as best we can and that we win the match because we have the quality and ability.”

Is it difficult right now to keep everything out and focus on the game?

“No, we cannot control what comes from outside, we can control our performances and our emotions. We’re just focused on the game.”

Leao is captain today, is it to give him even more responsibility?

“He is captain due to the appearances he has, we have always had this criterion. There is no need to make him responsible, Rafa knows the importance of the match and knows how important this shirt is. We will all try to give our best.”