Stefano Pioli believes Milan could have done more against Slavia Prague, despite winning the first-leg at San Siro 4-2. The Rossoneri made the most of their man advantage, with goals from Olivier Giroud, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic and Tijjani Reijnders, but still managed to concede twice. Speaking in the post-match with Sky Sport Italia, Pioli reflected on the performance and what could have been done better:
“I think we could have done more because we ended the first half two goals ahead, I expected more in the second half. We demonstrated strength against a solid and energetic team, the lead is still good. We made some small mistakes in the two goals conceded, we needed to create a bit more. They sat back, and it wasn’t easy, we needed more speed and rhythm. Slavia is a good team, I expect a different game because they have to score and can’t just wait. They are dangerous, and we must face them with caution, we must maintain concentration on set pieces.”
The Rossoneri coach then addressed the defensive errors: “We got the height of the line wrong in the second goal, but the goalkeeper decides it, we were unlucky because Tomori deflected the ball. Even in the first goal, we had three players outside the area, but we still conceded. Mentally, scoring or conceding goals matters, then fortunately, we returned with a double advantage, but we must keep in mind some things for the future. They will try the game of their lives in the return leg.”
Finally, Pioli wanted to conclude by saying: “Gabbia and Kjaer have technical qualities and make the right choices. In my opinion, we filled the spaces too little and tightened with the full-backs to create space on the flanks. Gabbia tried to carry the ball, but we needed a few more movements in depth to counter. We needed more work on the wings.”
