Milan are close to crashing out of the Champions League, credit to their 1-1 draw against Porto at San Siro, thus continuing their four-game winless streak in the competition.
It is the Rossoneri’s first appearance in the tournament since crashing out of the 2013/14 campaign and they have two more games to redeem some kind of positivity when they return to Europe next season.
Stefano Pioli spoke to Sky Sport Italia in his post-match press conference and provided his thoughts on the draw between the Italian and Portuguese giants, apologizing to the Rossoneri faithful in the process for his team’s showing in the tournament.
“It is difficult to say if it is more hope or more regret, we wanted to win. In the first minutes we started well, then we lost a ball and became everything more complicated. I’m sorry that at a technical level and at the level of choices we weren’t so lucid, in the first half we could have hurt the opponents. In the second half the team reacted, put in all their potential and we tried to win, but sorry we didn’t succeed.”
Milan face Inter in the first Derby della Madonnina of the season at the weekend and Pioli had some interesting words to say.
“Without a doubt that from tonight we will think about the derby, an important match for the classification, for the fans, for the environment and for our dreams. I don’t think it is decisive because it is still very long, but it is an important match for the our growth and our self-esteem,” he explained.
Milan and Napoli sit unbeaten and joint first with 31 points at the top of Serie A, followed by Inter who sit third with 24 points.