Pioli addresses derby disappointment, difficult period and importance of Juventus game

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli confirmed that Rafael Leao will be the captain against Juventus, while he suggested that his time at the club has been full of extremes in terms of how it is perceived, with ‘no middle ground’.

It would be an understatement to say that Pioli is not enjoying the best of times at the moment having seen his side get knocked out of the Europa League by Roma and then having lost the derby against Inter on Monday night.

Virtually every reliable source is claiming that the Pioli era at Milan is coming to an end, but in the meantime there is still the objective of locking up second place to fight for, and in this sense Saturday’s game is huge.

Juventus missed the chance to close the gap on the Rossoneri to three points by drawing against Cagliari, but a home win at the Allianz Stadium would reopen the battle for second, something which has economic and sporting motivations.

Pioli spoke to the reporters who gathered at Milanello on the eve of the trip north for his pre-match press conference, and his comments were transcribed by MilanNews.

Before the important period of the season you also spoke about the match against Juventus, which remains important…

“It absolutely must be like this, also unfortunately due to the negative results we had in the Europa League and in the derby. The focus must be to get back to winning, there were ten delicate days.”

What’s the mood in the dressing room now?

“It’s easy with quotes, we cannot stop at these disappointments that we have given to our fans. Of course we must have the pride and strength to remain united to win the remaining matches between now and the end of the season.

“We are professionals, we are attacked because of what we do. We suffer from this situation, but we have the duty to have broad shoulders, to get up and then put our best possible performances on the field.”

What will we see from an emotional point of view from Milan tomorrow?

“We will have to fight, we will have to give our all as if it were the last game. This is how we have to think. We have to fight for every ball, we have to be concentrated, we have to overcome an opponent who is doing well but we want to defend second place.”

Do you think the team gave everything this year?

“We have given everything, yes, but we have not always managed to put our best qualities on the field, certainly yes. Inter have been the strongest team in the league for four years and have only won two Scudetti.

“We have never been the strongest team in the league. We tried to fight for the top positions, sometimes we succeeded and sometimes less. We gave everything mentally but we weren’t always able to raise our level of play.”

Is it difficult to make sense of these last five days?

“No, no, why difficult? There are five games left, we have a lot of points available, we have to demonstrate who we are and that we are Milan. We want to get out of these 10 difficult days by putting our best qualities on the field.”

Have these been the most difficult 10 days since you have been coaching Milan?

“In these almost five years there has been no middle ground. Either very positive moments or very negative moments. I can’t tell you if it is the most negative, but it is the closest and therefore also the most painful.

“If I could change the result I would give everything I have to change the derbies, but it can’t be done anymore. I for one have to have broad shoulders, understand that it’s part of the game and it’s part of my job. We have to demonstrate who we are until the end.”