Stefano Pioli has admitted that AC Milan winger Rafael Leao still has room for improvement, and insisted that the team are doing well mentally despite a hectic schedule.
Leao scored with a header before the break and after a solo run in the second half to move onto 12 league goals for the season, and it was a massive three points for Milan given that Lazio and Juventus lost.
Pioli gave an interview to Milan TV at the end of the match against Lecce and he spoke about the team’s performance plus Leao’s brace, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
On the game itself: “It’s true that the period is very tiring but if we want to be a high-level team we have to get used to it. The opponent wasn’t an easy one, but we played the right kind of match.
“We could have found more from the attacking situations but we played as a mature team, winning deservedly. There are only a few games left and we need to obtain points to qualify in the top four.”
On the Champions League: “Our progress in the Champions League is extraordinary, the semi-final will be an incredible occasion, but the league is too important.
“We have the possibility of improving our standing in the table and overtaking the teams in front of us. It will be a tough game in Rome but we have to play like Milan and take our chances.”
On Leao’s first goal: “To be unpredictable you need to alter positions. I never care who is in a specific position on the field, but based on the positioning of our opponents, we need to take up positions that can offer us more solutions.
“I think we did very well on the left flank. Diaz, Hernandez and Leao often swapped positions, thereby giving no points of reference. We could have been more clinical and precise in our final passes and choices, but we built up the right way.
We try set pieces, often we don’t succeed but today that was not the case. There there were two options and Junior did well in returning the ball to Sandro who sent it to the far post.”
On Leao: “I think that beyond the results, the greatest satisfaction of the coaches is to improve the players. Rafa still has room for improvement, it is inevitable that this is the case, he is still young.
“For the first time he will play in the semi-finals of the Champions League and it is important for him. I think he’s an even more complete player than last season and that’s very important.”
On the approach to the Champions League derby: “I think the team are doing well but the head is increasingly in charge. We are mentally well in matches and training. Myself and the staff will have to be good at managing these forces.
“It is inevitable that we will have to manage but I have an willing and serious group I know that whoever is called into question will be ready.”
