Stefano Pioli was frustrated with Milan’s 10 defeat to Juventus: “We weren’t inferior even when we were one man down.” The Rossoneri dominated the early exchanges but found themselves a man down after Malick Thiaw’s last-man tackle on Moise Kean. Manuel Locatelli put the visitors ahead in the second half, despite Milan still having long periods of possession. Pioli offered his assessment of the match to DAZN, insisting that his side held their own, despite Juve’s numerical advantage:
On the match…
“I don’t speak to the team after the matches, there is still too much tension and even disappointment. We played a match with 11 and 10 men, we could have been more attentive, and we weren’t inferior even when we were one man down.”
On Pulisic’s substitution after Thiaw’s red card…
“I removed an attacker to maintain the same defensive structure that we had prepared during the week. We started well in the second half, we had to be more intense and attentive in our half of the pitch to try to bring home a positive result.”
On Leao…
“I expected Weah to mark Leao more than Gatti. Gatti committed a lot of fouls. If you commit repeated fouls, you should get a yellow card by regulation. We played our game, but we had to fill the penalty box better in the first half. On the sending off, we committed individual and departmental naivety because we should have been tighter. It’s a shame because even with 10 men we weren’t inferior. A positive result would have been fairer.”
On the red card to Thiaw…
“He should have stayed put and not tried to advance. The full-back also made a mistake because he had to stay tighter. Thiaw was also unlucky because he slipped, but he could have done better.”
On Jovic…
“He entered well, he held the ball well. His condition is improving, Okafor can also play in that role. But if you need a player who holds the ball Jovic has different characteristics than Okafor who does better in other game situations.”
On the defeats against Inter and Juventus…
“It doesn’t take anything away from us. We have to try to do better. The team is aware of its qualities, then every match tells us where to improve. Becoming more concrete is certainly an objective.”
