AC Milan coach, Stefano Pioli, spoke to Sky Sport Italia after the victory against Venezia:
"This must be the year of our confirmation, we must show that we are competitive again. We will see if we can also make the last step, therefore to be successful. It was not an easy race, we were good at making it simple. It was a team victory."
There is growth of some individuals...
"We had an emergency period from November onwards, we had many injuries and we had to always play the same ones. We made good use of the break, we are happy with these two victories. We have to go on like this."
On the Serie A league standings:
"Our fans must be proud of how the team plays and the spirit with which they take the field. We thank them for their closeness, it is a pity that there won't be many in the next home games."
On Tonali's yellow card:
"These are game situations, we have been aggressive and therefore it can happen. When you are in warning it happens sooner or later that you get a yellow card, someone else will play against Spezia. The games are all worth three points, we don't think about Juve or Inter."
Pioli on not playing the Champions League:
"If it's an advantage? It's always better to stay in the cups. We had a difficult group, but after Madrid we still had a chance to go through. Clearly having weeks to work is a small advantage, but we are not happy not to be in the Champions League anymore. There is a lot of talk about Inter last year, but it is not easy to make a 50-point second round as they did a year ago."
He added:
"Awareness came from all the experiences we are having, both positive and negative. Young people are becoming more mature. Theo, for example, has grown and is more mature than a year ago. We are a team young, but mentally we are more mature. There is still a long way to go to win, Allegri is right when he says Inter are the favourites and the others are more or less on the same level. We must continue to work on ourselves."
