Stefano Pioli's AC Milan won against Lazio: a deserved 2-0 victory, goals scored by Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor, both assisted by Rafael Leao.
The Rossoneri coach spoke to Milan TV after the match and said these words:
"It was a tough game, especially the first half. We let ourselves get caught up too much in the frenzy and lacked clarity. But then the energy, aggressiveness, pressure, and quality of the second half were crucial. We won a difficult match and didn't concede much."
On Ruben Loftus-Cheek:
"We hope it's not anything serious, he felt some discomfort in his abdomen. He was doing very well on Luis Alberto's lines of play. But the team needs to be a team: we will be strong when we're not dependent on just one player."
On Yacine Adli:
"I must say that Yacine felt the weight of San Siro a bit, but he worked well. He needs to get familiar with a position he's never played before. He did well like everyone else in the second half. He should be satisfied with his growth and being a Milan starter, which means he's in the choices."
Is this a message to the league? Pioli said:
"The message is to ourselves. At the end of the first half, we looked at each other, adjusted some positions. The message to us is that if we continue like this, we can compete. The season is long, and the Italian league is complicated, especially now that we're playing every three days. I have to thank my players for their physical and, above all, mental efforts. We're also helped by a fantastic crowd."
Combo before the break...
"We need to be ready. The Champions League is very important, Dortmund is very intense and has a lot of quality up front. We have an extra day to recover and we have to play a high-level game because we'll face a passionate crowd. But these are the games we want to play."
