Massimiliano Allegri spoke to DAZN after Parma-Milan ended 2-2. These are the words of the Rossoneri coach:
After a good first half, that goal came which changed Milan’s game. What happened?
“Football matches can turn in an instant, for better or worse. At the end of the first half, the game was under control. We could have managed the ball better, but we conceded that goal a minute before halftime. In the second half, it was normal for them to come at us psychologically. We couldn’t stay calm, on the contrary. They were passing balls into our area too easily. We should have fought more, shown more aggression, but we were too passive. Then we had important chances, and Maignan also made a good save. Even in that situation from a throw-in, we knew what could happen… When you need to fight, you can’t just play, you have to battle.”
Cremonese, Pisa, Parma… why is this happening?
“If I knew why, it would be easy. We definitely need to improve and work. Against Pisa it was a different situation, against Cremonese it was similar. Today we needed to fight in the moments that required it because we had to defend the 2-1 lead.”
Are you more frustrated about the two goals conceded or not scoring the third? Allegri answered:
“The two goals conceded. At the 45th minute, the first half was over, you can’t allow a shot from an easy ball. At that moment, either you are sure you control the ball, or you put it out for a throw-in and the half ends. Then we came back onto the pitch dazed. Later we woke up, started playing, and had important chances. Maignan also made a nice save.”
Christian Pulisic’s return, is there understanding with Rafael Leao?
“They are also regaining fitness. Estupinan hadn’t played in a while, he saved a goal. Pulisic came back well, unfortunately he missed a good chance. We’re waiting for Rabiot, Jashari had a good opportunity. It’s about reading the moments of the match; if we don’t, we end the game regretting it. Against Pisa, we had a chance to close the match and didn’t. Against Cremonese, we conceded two goals. Today we had to fight because it was normal for them to attack with high balls. We conceded two goals, not given away, but close. Then two more situations from set pieces because we were static in the area: these are things we need to understand.”
Allegri, is the break before the derby good or bad?
“I don’t know, we’ll see after the Inter match. For now, we recover. We are in the top four, and that is our main goal. We know we have to maintain it. We won many direct confrontations, but against smaller teams we earned few points, and that is something we need to improve.”
