Milan coach Stefano Pioli believes they worked as a team against Juventus, as opposed to their match against Chelsea earlier in the week. The Rossoneri weathered the early pressure from Allegri’s Juve before asserting themselves and running out 2-0 winners in a strong performance. Speaking to DAZN after the game, Pioli was quick to point out how much his players had improved since their 3-0 loss to Chelsea:
It was a very intense match, we made a few too many misplaced passes in the first 20 minutes.
I will say that the last time Rafa needs to do now is to work off the ball, because he needs to help defensively, be inside the match and be ready to sacrifice himself for the team. He’s nearly there, but still has work to do.
We worked as a team today, unfortunately we lost our shape in London (against Chelsea) and got too intimidated by our own mistakes and the strength of the opponent. We know that if we work together, we can get positive results.
The reason we didn’t do well in London is because we were not aggressive enough and we made too many unforced errors without needing Chelsea to be aggressive in their press against us.
This was a very important game in Serie A, it always is between Milan and Juventus, so we had the right attitude from the start.
Clearly, missing both Messias and Saelemaekers takes away players who can run on the touchline, but we needed also today players to stop Juve passing it around in midfield, so we put Leao on one side and Brahim on the other.
We had the necessary width to spread Juve’s defence, but also more solidity in the middle of the park.
De Ketelaere? Charles can play on the right, but I don’t think that would get the best out of his characteristics. I believe Brahim can do better there with his characteristics. Any player can do anything with the right attitude, but seeing as De Ketelaere is still settling in, I think it’s better for him if I don’t move him around too much. “Although Brahim might not be that happy with the decisions I made over time, I always appreciated his attitude.”
