Stefano Pioli, head coach of AC Milan, spoke to DAZN after the draw against Lecce.
Here are his words:
"I am absolutely not satisfied. In the second half, we played with a frenzy that does not characterize us. We needed to control the game better and manage the ball better. We had two chances to go 3-0 up. We managed the ball too little, gave space to the opponents, and they punished us. We conceded a goal identical to the one on Tuesday against PSG from a corner kick. These are mistakes that we are paying a high price for."
Is the original sin not closing the game? Pioli responded:
"There were chances to close the game; 3-0 probably would have sealed it. Not being able to do it should have made us maintain better compactness. Unfortunately, once again, we failed to win a game we could have won."
After PSG, was there a risk of underestimating this?
"It shouldn't be like that; let's say that the possibility of not approaching a game like today's after the Champions League was there, but instead, we were good at approaching it well. It can't be a conceded goal, in a game where you were trying to dominate, that makes you lose everything you were doing. Yet, even in the second goal, we had the ball, a teammate was on the ground, we could have managed it better. We could have thrown the ball to call for assistance, but instead, you lost the goal. We are making errors of frenzy and clarity that have prevented us from winning two games that we could have won. Going ahead by two goals in almost two consecutive games and not being able to bring them home disappoints us and penalizes us."
On the conditions of the injured players, Pioli said:
"Calabria and Leao had hamstring issues, both to be evaluated. I put in Musah instead of Florenzi because he was more suited to the level of pace and speed against the only player from Lecce who could create difficulties for us in these situations."
Is there a lack of mental continuity throughout the 90 minutes?
"We have to work on it; we are losing points that penalize us in the standings and distance us from the top. These are situations we have to face and work on well. It's normal that when you see games slipping away, you think, by making mistakes, that you have them in hand, and then you can also lose a bit of clarity: it shouldn't happen, but that's what happened in the end."
Tijjani Reijnders finally scored... Pioli replied:
"He has excellent timing for insertions. He is a technical and intelligent player. He must be an effective player in the attacking zone, and today he did it and could have scored more goals. He absolutely has to continue like this because he is a player of great quality."
