Coach Pioli: 'Milan must do what no one thinks'
"The second leg is difficult, but we have an important goal, to win to reach the final - something that no one could have predicted," Pioli said on May 15 at the pre-match press conference. "More than ever, nobody thinks Milan can reach the final. But I believe Milan can play a great game to go through."
Milan are in poor form having won two, drawn four and lost two of their last eight matches in all competitions, with the last two defeats in a row. In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final a week ago, as the host, Milan lost 0-2 because of goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
By the end of the week, Milan continued to disappoint when losing with the same score at the club that is racing to relegation Spezia. They are currently fifth in Serie A with 61 points, four points behind the fourth ranked team Lazio, with three rounds left in the season, and the risk of missing the Champions League next season.
Pioli admitted Milan have made many mistakes in recent matches, but emphasized that the form will not affect the outcome of a particular match. The Italian coach wants his players to start well, maintain the game, perform at the highest level and then take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. He also said that the whole team had not talked about the defeat to Spezia to focus on the Inter rematch.
"These are matches that the players dream to experience. We know we have to start with a big disadvantage, but we are confident we have the quality to turn the tables," added Pioli.
The 57-year-old coach asked Milan to deal better in the set pieces and saw this as the factor that gave Inter an advantage in the first leg. On the San Siro on May 10, Hakan Calhanoglu took a corner to Edin Dzeko's left foot, making goalkeeper Mike Maignan stand still, putting Inter ahead in the 8th minute.
Pioli revealed Rafael Leao, Rade Krunic, Junior Messias could play "if everything goes according to plan", while Ismael Bennacer is out for the rest of the season.
UEFA announced that Clement Turpin will be the referee, assisted by Nicolas Danos, Benjamin Pages and Stephanie Frappart, along with the VAR team with Jerome Brisard and Benoit Millot. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi pointed out that Turpin has French nationality and is a compatriot of four Milan players, Mike Maignan, Olivier Giroud, Pierre Kalulu, Theo Hernandez, although he insists there is no problem with the layout of the team. UEFA.
When asked about these statements of Inzaghi, Pioli refused to answer and midfielder Sandro Tonali - who was also present at the press conference - replied sarcastically: "I think UEFA needs to find referees without nationality".
