AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli was interviewed by Sky Sport following the qualification to the Champions League. Here are his statements:
Mission accomplished, how did you reach it?
“We achieved it because we deserved it and we deserved second place in the standings. It was right, unfortunately we had thrown away last Sunday's match point. I am really excited and happy. I have to thank the club for making us work spectacularly. Thanks to the managers, the technical area, the players, the collaborators and the fans who once again showed us today how much Milan is worth. We are satisfied to have them happy”.
On Kessie:
“Never as tonight I believe it is right to enhance the collective beyond the singles. When you have these satisfactions in a season it is also thanks to the players who have played less, the Gabbia, the Krunic, the Dalot, the Kalulu. Kessie is in the spotlight and deserves only the compliments for the season he has done. It is all we have done together ... the strength not to break down in difficulties. I am very proud of the mental growth of the group. We played with Zlatan only 19 out of 38 games, taking away the champion from the other teams for half the championship I wanted to see what they would do. I thank the club, now there is satisfaction and we must enjoy it. I also thought that if we were fifth it would be a difficult summer. Now we enjoy it and then we will restart again."
Have you ever wondered why you were the best away from home?
“We asked ourselves, we tried to evaluate this situation well. We weren't a team that made a lot of 1vs1s in the last quarter of the pitch. We miss the individual play when the teams close, in this data we are below average. We lacked some individual play. On the road, perhaps we found some more space, this is a situation that we will have to evaluate. I heard that this team took advantage of the absence of fans in the stadiums at least initially to find serenity, but I'm sure this team here with the enthusiasm of our fans at San Siro would have grown a lot. What the fans did for us this morning and the other times has filled us with warmth and passion, we have shown that we believe in it together with them. To conclude I want to wish my wife on our wedding anniversary, we are 34 years together. Grant it to me (laughs, ed)".
