Stefano Pioli spoke to the press from Stade Rennes stadium in France on Wednesday evening to preview the Europa League knockout round play-off second leg.
The Rossoneri are 3-0 up from the first leg at San Siro where Ruben Loftus-Cheek was particularly impressive, scoring twice. The other goal came from Rafael Leao after a wonderful team move.
Despite that big scoreline, Pioli is not going to be sitting back and resting on his laurels, especially given this tournament is the best chance for silverware this season. Speaking to the press (transcribed by Milan News), the coach explained that he will have to make the right squad choices for the match, as he does with every game.
“I don’t like the term turnover. There is the management of a group that works, of a group that has to play five games in 15 days. I make the choices for every single game, the choices on Sunday were due to the data I had, the condition of the players. I’ll do the same tomorrow night, I’ll do the same for Atalanta after tomorrow night’s game,” Pioli said.
He was asked about the fitness of players like Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic who have been key in recent weeks, and he had positive news about both, saying: “They are all well, compared to Sunday we had an extra day of rest. The team is fine, I think they are all in a condition to play.”
Pioli was seen making his team gather into the centre of the pitch at Milanello in training today before the flight to Rennes. He was asked what he said to the players, his response being: “We analysed Sunday’s game on Monday as we always do, then we threw ourselves into it. I told the team that we took a deserved lead but the qualification is not there yet and we will have to work as a team from start to finish because Rennes is a good team.”
Milan have a big lead already but Pioli was asked whether he thinks the first 20 minutes are going to be a stern test for his players: “We expect Rennes to try to do something different compared to Thursday’s game, we don’t know if in positions or attitude. That they will try to make an important start we know, we are prepared for that.”
The recent 4-2 loss against Monza in Serie A has reignited criticism of Pioli, and the coach was asked how he feels about that.
“Everything is fine. We work to get results and if they don’t come, especially if you coach a big team, you get criticised. It’s not a problem.”