AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli praised his players for the ‘great spirit’ they showed during last night’s 1-1 draw against Inter.
All the drama came in the first half as Inter were awarded an early penalty following Hakan Calhanoglu’s decision to take a tumble after a tangling of legs with Franck Kessie, and he stepped up to score against his old club. Stefan de Vrij’s own-goal made it 1-1 before Ciprian Tatarusanu saved Lautaro Martinez’s spot kick to keep it level, which is how it finished.
Pioli spoke to Milan TV after the draw against his old club, with MilanNews relaying his comments.
“The goal is to always play to win. There are many teams that can win the Scudetto, but we believe in it. This must be our mentality,” he said.
“I take home a great spirit of my players. We suffered on a few occasions, but we never stopped playing. We have remained compact, we have also tried to win it and this spirit is important. Inter are strong. we are doing something special. Us and Napoli have started the season in a great way.”
On Brahim Diaz’s position: “We didn’t want to give points of reference to their defenders, so we put two attacking midfielders around Brozovic. That was the intention. When I saw that Diaz was dropping I preferred to include Saelemaekers who entered the game well.”
On the mistakes in transition: “We have to manage a few balls better. We had started the game well, then the first penalty came.”
On the changes: “I have the opportunity to have many starters, like those who entered the second who took over very well.”
On the fans: “I want to congratulate them on the choreography. I’m not surprised because I know them by now, but in a game like this, remembering those people who have done an incredible job in the last period was really beautiful.”
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