Stefano Pioli acknowledges the Europa League left Milan exhausted in the defeat to Napoli and prone to unforced errors. ‘The performance was sufficient, but that’s not enough.’
The Rossoneri were visibly fatigued after Thursday’s Europa League draw with Manchester United, had numerous injuries and even Franck Kessie had a rare substitution.
Stefano Pioli acknowledges the Europa League left Milan exhausted in the defeat to Napoli and prone to unforced errors. ‘The performance was sufficient, but that’s not enough.’
The Rossoneri were visibly fatigued after Thursday’s Europa League draw with Manchester United, had numerous injuries and even Franck Kessie had a rare substitution.
“The team was competitive. We were up against a quality opponent, it was a complicated first half, we made too many mistakes even without being under pressure. That was our limit this evening,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had been doing better than Napoli at the start of the second half, but lost the ball and should’ve been far quicker to get back into position on the goal.
“We missed an opportunity, as it could’ve been an exceptional week, but a good game is not enough to beat a side like Napoli.
“Now we have to prepare for the next match in the Europa League and then get ready for Fiorentina.”
The gap is opening up at the top now, as Inter are nine points clear, whereas Milan are now only six points clear of Napoli and Roma in fifth.
“Inter have the momentum, they really started to step on the gas after their Champions League exclusion and it allowed them a full well to prepare for every game.
“We are not looking ahead or over our shoulders, we just stay focused on our path.”
Matteo Politano scored the only goal on the counter-attack after a couple of errors in midfield, but Milan had penalty appeals rejected in the final minute for Tiemoue Bakayoko’s challenge on Theo Hernandez.
Ante Rebic was so furious that he was later sent off for dissent and will be suspended against Fiorentina.
“We certainly should’ve been quicker and more direct playing out from the back, but it’s because we made technical errors in our passing. There were also too many horizontal passes and not enough vertical.
“When you lack movement and precision, that’s when it comes difficult. Having said that, we caused Napoli problems, there was a big Rafael Leao chance, a few doubts over the penalty…
“It was a very tough and tiring week, I saw a performance that was sufficient, but that’s not enough.”
Pioli was asked which of the many injured players he missed the most, or even which area of the team, as this evening three-quarters of the defence and most of the strikers were out of action.
“When you are missing that many players, it does make a difference, especially when they are players who also bring experience and leadership.
“We had to play many games without a real centre-forward, so considering all of that, the team deserves praise for all they’ve been able to do in the circumstances.
“Try to imagine Inter without Lukaku, Lautaro or Sanchez, maybe Juventus without Ronaldo, Morata or Chiesa.
“We had more than half the season without Zlatan, while Rebic and Calhanoglu were also injured for long periods.
“We showed all week that this is not just a strong team, but a special one. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough tonight.
“We should’ve either been more courageous or sat back more, but tonight we tended to be somewhere in-between and were caught in no man’s land.”
It is probably no coincidence that both teams in the Europa League lost this weekend, as Roma fell 2-0 at relegation strugglers Parma.
“We returned from Manchester at 3am on Friday morning. It’s obvious the Europa League is more stressful and damaging than the Champions League, especially when we started in September.
“Having said that, we are Milan and would never want to be without that European presence. We weren’t expecting to be in second place, but now that we are here, we want to keep hold of it.”