AC Milan's head coach, Paulo Fonseca, commented about the cooling break controversy which saw Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao not joining the rest of the team at the touch line.
Here are the Portuguese tactician's words:
"There's no issue, as Theo has already explained" commented Fonseca as he was referring to the words of the French fullback on Milan TV.
Fonseca then continued to discuss the decision to initially keep Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez on the bench:
"I spoke with the players about my decision this week, they accepted it and there are no issues. I was focused and didn't notice, but let's not create problems because there aren't any. The players' response was good, and their reaction as well. I don't hide behind excuses, when there are problems, I don't conceal them. I don't lie."
Paulo Fonseca then spoke about the match:
"We played a good first half, managing the game with the ball. We should have accelerated more, but we controlled the game. The second half was completely different, we stopped trying to play. What we did in the second half was completely different, we played with Pavlovic, constantly losing the ball on the left flank. If we're pressed and lose the courage to play... If they press us high, that's fine, as long as we want to play. I also understand that in their minds, the players are trying to defend in this difficult moment, to avoid conceding."
Finally, Fonseca completed his reasoning:
"It's not that we're missing a player in midfield, it's that we're missing the desire to play. When Lazio started pressing higher, we lost ninety percent of the balls when playing out with Pavlovic, and we didn't play with our midfielders, who are the engine of the team. I understand that the players don't want to take risks, but that's not how it should work. It's not a lack of responsibility; it's a matter of intent", as relayed via Gianluca Di Marzio on his website.
