Stefano Pioli, the Rossoneri coach, expressed himself to Sky Sport Italia after the victory away from home against Fiorentina 1-2.
Here are his words:
"For me, returning to Florence always means - and it was especially true in today's match - an emotion. It's always a pleasure to find myself in this environment that has given me so much both as a player and as a coach. Then there was the match: we approached it well, created a lot, suffered just enough. We played a real game, with confidence, with good control. I'm happy because after breaks, it's never easy to regain rhythm."
Any regrets?
"It's a great moment, lasting two or three months. We're growing, improving in performances, compactness in defending in a certain way. If we defend well, we can then hurt any team. Then there's the standings. I don't believe there are 14 points between us and Inter, but they took advantage of our month where we only got 2 points and they got 12; that's where the gap was created."
Paolo Scaroni said "Pioli stays"...
"I'm very fond of Milan: how can you not be attached to this club? But we shouldn't think about the future, neither me nor the players. The club should, because it needs to plan, understand where to intervene. We should think about what to do on the field, but we've always done that, isolating ourselves in Milanello to prepare for matches. We have to do it now too: there are many important games between the league and Europe."
When was the turning point in the season in terms of transforming the game into results?
"In football, nothing is invented, and you can't deny adjustment time to new players. We've changed a lot: the new players had to get to know me, and I had to get to know them. This year we have a quality team: Pulisic is Pulisic, Loftus is Loftus, then Leao, Giroud, Bennacer, Adli, Reijnders... We have to play well because we have this kind of players. Maybe we lack some characteristics, but now we have to compensate with attention."
Leao is leading you... Pioli commented:
"He can drag us along. We've accompanied him, he's let himself be accompanied. He's really close to becoming the champion I've always believed he could become. But I'm not talking about goals, I'm talking about the leadership he has, the extra word he says. Then his quality and strength: it's difficult for defenders to handle him."
Would you stay at Milan?
"I've never had doubts. You don't leave Milan, Milan is Milan, and I'm very comfortable here. Then we're ambitious, and everyone expects you to win every game. We won the Scudetto two years ago, and everyone expects us to win. I'm very happy at Milan, then it depends on what happens. I'm good with everyone, with Furlani, Ibra, Moncada... I'm happy at Milan."
