"The decisive moment of the season has arrived, is arriving and we are ready to face it": says Milan coach Stefano Pioli on the eve of the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Slavia Prague.
And for the Rossoneri coach the moment seems to be favorable to Milan: "We came out of the match against Lazio well. I think we didn't play the best match from a technical point of view, but certainly a match of attitude and mentality. We are fine and we must take advantage of this moment."
"Slavia Prague? They are a very intense team, who run a lot and well. They are very direct, they play with the three attacking players close together, they favor the ball rotation and then they immediately go to the attacker. They have physical and fast attackers. They play with a lot of energy They are an opponent to be faced with a lot of respect and a lot of concentration": Stefano Pioli, on the eve of the match against Slavia Prague at San Siro, warns the Rossoneri about the quality of the Czech team.
While Milan will try to take an important step towards progressing to the next round tomorrow, PSG - opponents in the Champions League group stage - qualified for the quarter-finals yesterday.
A further reason for regret for the Rossoneri team, even if Pioli avoids thinking about it: "The Champions League is no longer part of our present for details in the decisive matches. Now we only have to think about tomorrow's match. We have the ability to get to the point bottom".
"We have to think we can win the Europa League but we have to be good at getting through this round. It's not the right mentality to think too far ahead. But within us we have the awareness and enthusiasm of being able to get to the end": he says Milan coach Stefano Pioli on the eve of the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Slavia Prague.
For Milan, winning the competition has now become the great objective of the season which otherwise would be unsatisfactory for the expectations surrounding the Rossoneri environment.
"I say that judgments must be made at the end of the season and everyone will make their own assessments", Pioli's concise comment
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