Pioli ‘reassured’ by Milan spirit with Juventus

Stefano Pioli found the ‘spirit of sacrifice’ reassuring from Milan in their 0-0 draw away to Juventus, insisting he does ‘not read’ speculation on his future.

The Rossoneri needed a positive result after a dismal run that saw them crash out of the Europa League quarter-finals to 10-man Roma, draw 3-3 at Sassuolo and lose the Scudetto decider with Inter.

They had a decimated defence and it got worse when Mike Maignan pulled out in the warm-up with an adductor issue, but Marco Sportiello stepped in and made some crucial saves, also helped by the Malick Thiaw goal-line clearance on Adrien Rabiot.

“We are going through a delicate moment, so reacting with this spirit of sacrifice and desire against a team that wanted to close up on us, that has the quality to cause us problems, that is all reassuring,” Pioli croaked on DAZN, having lost his voice.

“Obviously, we can do better in our final ball, but we sacrificed ourselves to get this result and I am very happy with their performance.

“There was also an odd atmosphere, as our fans weren’t there to support us, but we fought to the end and this is a good reaction.”

Milan ultras followed those of many other clubs by boycotting the Juventus Stadium match in protest at the system for getting tickets in Turin.

Pioli under pressure

It leaves Milan with a five-point advantage over third-placed Juventus and they are on the verge of securing Champions League qualification.

What more motivation can they find going into the final rounds of a dead rubber campaign?

“We have to work with our desire to do well to the end, we have to represent the shirt, we have fans all over the world. We must do well, we owe it to ourselves, to the club, to everyone.”

Milan did not have a single shot on target this evening, but the makeshift defence worked well.

“I thought the first half was a very good performance, then Juve threw on a lot of strikers and pinned us back, but we defended with a great deal of determination, because we knew that not losing today would be a positive result for us,” confessed Pioli.

“We sat back more, also knowing Juve’s danger on the counter-attack and the absences we had in defence. It is also true that results determine the evaluation of a match, so if Juve had scored, people might’ve said we defended too deep.

“This was our plan anyway, the players collaborated well during a delicate moment of the season, so I am very satisfied with their performance. I got the response I was looking for, now we’ll try to secure second place and get as many points as possible.”

There are multiple reports that Milan have chosen their coach for next season as Julen Lopetegui, despite Pioli having a contract to June 2025.

“I have not read the papers for a long time. My friends still send me messages, even when I tell them not to. Concentration was important today and giving the team a sense of calm to reach the end of the season.”

Pioli was asked what he most regrets and is most proud of in the 2023-24 campaign.

“Clearly, we made mistakes and our season could’ve been better, but if we are a long way off Inter and are still in second place, that means they did something extraordinary and the other teams are worse off.

“We had some difficult moments, but this squad has the potential to do well and be a protagonist regardless.”