Pioli: “We played well. If the game ended 2-1, we would have been more confident. Leao wants to…”

The AC Milan coach after the draw with Bologna: “Juve and Inter? We only focus on ourselves, and we’re not satisfied with ourselves.”

Stefano Pioli is left with a bitter taste after the draw between his Milan and Bologna, partly due to two missed penalties by his team. “We leave with the regret of not having won the game” – the coach told Sky Sport. “It’s true that we missed two penalties, but we had many chances to score, and then we gave some to an excellent Bologna.”

“This evening should teach us that in today’s football you can’t lose focus. We did exactly that in the last action before allowing the penalty. We had ten players in the box, and nobody supported Theo in doubling up. It’s a shame because we put in a good performance. It was an important game to win.”

“Inter and Juve? We look at ourselves, and clearly, we’re not happy with ourselves. It feels bad because we almost won… but It was a difficult game where we played hard and came back from being down. There were many positive aspects, but we showed that we still need to grow in other areas. It would have been all positive until the 92nd minute.”

Pioli expresses satisfaction with his team’s performance: “If the game had ended 2-1, despite the mistakes, our confidence and belief would have been different. It would have been another victory that gave us more morale and a better position in the table. The performance was there, of course, but we need to combine performances with results. Not being able to do that disappoints us. In the second half, apart from the early chance, we played better than the first, conceding very little. However, games end at the 92nd or 95th minute. This will be a new lesson for our future.”

Pioli also discussed the penalty takers and a remark made by Leao: “It’s clear that Giroud and Theo are excellent penalty takers. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t their night. Leao told me he would take the next penalty. He doesn’t score many in training, but perhaps in a match…”

Finally, a praise for Zirkzee: “He’s a great player. I’ve followed him since his time at Bayern Munich and then in my Parma. A fantastic player, both physically and in terms of quality. He has everything. He’s doing very well at Bologna.”