AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli praised his side for a job well done against Dinamo Zagreb last night, but told his team not to think about playing for a draw against Salzburg.
The Rossoneri went into the game in the Croatian capital knowing that a win was needed to set up a favourable situation heading into the final group stage game and they took advantage of Red Bull Salzburg’s loss against Chelsea earlier in the evening, winning comfortably at the Stadion Maksimir.
Matteo Gabbia’s header not long before the break gave Milan the lead and then it became a rout as Rafael Leao scored after a solo run, Giroud tucked a penalty away and an own-goal made it 4-0.
Pioli spoke during an interview with Sky Italia after the match at the Stadion Maksimir to reflect on the performance and a very positive result, with his comments relayed by MilanNews and translated below.
“We had a difficult start, because they surprised us a little with their positions. Then we settled down and did well because we have strong players. Nice victory and good game. Now another step in front of our fans against Salzburg,” he said.
Are the team mature?
“Yes, but by now the team are used to playing decisive games; we have played so many that we don’t make mistakes. We are aware of our qualities and we never underestimate anyone. Getting through the group stage would be the important step.”
A draw would be enough against Salzburg…
“Let’s think about Torino, then we’ll think about Salzburg. Torino gave us a hard time last year, then with Salzburg we should play for Milan without thinking about a draw, because it’s not our mentality.”
What do you take away?
“Many positive things, but many things in which you can do better. I think you can give less being more compact.”
Was the Dinamo game a crossroads?
“No, it will be the one against Salzburg because it would allow us to do better than last year and it is our goal.”
Pioli is not sentimental he plays the best players that are fit to play according to his plan.
Yes pioli is a class manager ,,that’s evident with the team he picked in the started line up ..Olivier Giroud up front ,what a good game he had ,yes it’s easy to say he should have scored ,but the fact is his ratio on goal was sublime ,and the goalkeeper had to make a couple of excellent saves to deny him ,but he took his penalty with aplomb..Rafael leao was a livewire and indeed scored again ,I love to see him playing alongside Oliver they seem to combine really well .
TONALI what can I say man of the match …that said all players can hold there heads up high a great team performance..
Pioli is above all an exceptionally intelligent man, and that was more than proved in the last season. I would say the big problem is that until then he was always plagued in his career by something terrible called BAD LUCK, but thank God this is all water under the bridge and he is a great winner.