Coach Stefano Pioli spoke after the derby match to DAZN. The Italian Technician gave the following statements:
"The goal after five minutes weighed heavily, then we had difficulty finding space. In the first half we lacked pace, which we instead put in in the second half."
"We didn't manage to score when we deserved the draw, on the second goal we had to stop the action first. I don't have much to say about my team's second half, more could have been done in the first half."
"In the second half we had many scoring chances, Handanovic hadn't saved so well for a long time"
What weighed the most?
"The goal immediately after 5 minutes. We struggled to find quality and intensity. We allowed Inter to wait and leave. We weren't able to score in our best moment, we deserved the draw. On the second goal we had to stop their action first."
On substituting Ibrahimovic:
"He asked for a change due to a cramp in his calf, he was no longer able to perform. Then we'll see what choices to make for Thursday and Sunday."
Is Ibrahimovic missing?
"It is clear that a center forward is conditioned by the performance of the team. Handanovic hadn't parried so much and so well for a while. It has been a difficult week but we will recover."
Milan lacked quality while trying to press highly:
"We weren't so aggressive because we didn't want to open up too much and give them too many one-on-one situations. It is not easy to go there and take the ball away from them, their management is very lucid."
Is it complicated to manage the team now with many young players in it?
"Our strength has always been balance and belief in our work. If we had been told a year ago that we would now be second in the standings, we would all have jumped for joy. Surely we must not forget our path, this must teach us that we must do something more. The bad night was that of Spezia, not today. Sorry for the fans but we played the game. We have to raise the level in many situations that have been below in these matches. When you lose you have to work harder and work well."
Is there a physical issue linked to playing Europa League games?
"The data we have is not inferior to our opponents. We were the only team to play preliminaries, now the players who played more due to injuries in the squad, have played too much, while the others have to play more to find the right conditions. But these are situations that can exist in a season. Next Thursday we should be better than our opponents to go through and then think about the championship."
