Milan were unable to pick up the three points at home to Newcastle United on Tuesday evening as they drew 0-0 at San Siro in their first Champions League match of the season. The Rossoneri dominated the play but failed to take their chances as the Magpies left Milan with their first Champions League point since 2002.
Head coach Stefano Pioli addressed the media post-match in response to the draw. Speaking to Sky Sport and in his press conference, Pioli spoke about Newcastle’s performance, injury concerns to Mike Maignan and Ruben Loftus-Cheek and his own team’s display:
On Newcastle: “We know them well. They are usually very aggressive. We probably took some of the pressure off by moving the ball well and making them move. We conducted the game as we wanted. These are games you should win, but we weren’t able to finish the situations well that we could have exploited differently”.
On Milan’s performance: “I’m very satisfied, we played the game we had prepared by doing a good construction phase, trying to always be dangerous. We didn’t finish the opportunities well where we could break the deadlock, which is a shame. We did better than them who are a strong opponent. We have to continue to grow and improve, we have the qualities but when you lose determination you risk a negative result.”
On Maignan and Loftus-Cheek: “Maignan said he felt something small, while Ruben said he only had cramps, in fact I was changing him”.
