Knocked Out In The Coppa Italia, AC Milan Turns Focus To The League

AC Milan focused on the league after being knocked out in the Coppa Italia. (acmilan.com)

JAKARTA - AC Milan failed to continue their work in the Coppa Italia after being eliminated by Lazio. Coach Massimiliano Allegri said Milan are now focusing on the league and facing stiff competition with defending champions Napoli.

Allegri admitted that he was disappointed that Milan could not maintain their performance against Lazio twice in a row. When meeting in the Italian Serie A in San Siro, which is his own headquarters, last weekend, Milan successfully beat their rivals with a narrow score of 1-0.

Milan managed to get three points after Lazio's penalty chance in injury time was controversially broken by referees who only gave free kicks for different offenses.

Victory over Lazio brought Milan to the top of the standings by pocketing 28 points the same as Napoli, but Milan were ahead on goal difference.

After winning at home, Rafael Leao et al then visited Lazio headquarters. This time they played the match in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia. As a result, Lazio successfully settled their grudge and beat the Rossoneri 1-0 to advance to the quarter-finals.

Allegri stated that the failure was not a step back even though last season Milan were able to reach the Coppa Italia final. Only Milan had to admit Bologna's 1-0 advantage in the top match.

"Not completely [a setback]. Of course we are disappointed to be eliminated in the knockout round. But we have to focus on the future," Allegri was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

Ya, Allegri memastikan Milan sudah langsung beralih fokus di liga. Apalagi, mereka menghadapi persaingan ketat dengan Napoli.

When completing the 13th week, both teams had the same points. Milan not only took into account Napoli but also Inter Milan and AS Roma who were only one point adrift.

Allegri also targeted three points when Milan faced Torino in their next match in Serie A. Although it was not easy because Milan had a bad record when they met Torino in recent seasons, they had to beat the hosts.

"We will play two Serie A matches before playing at Supercoppa Italiana," said Allegri.

"The problem for the last 12 years was how many times did Milan beat Torino in an away game? Only once, when Covid and the team played in a closed place. So, now we focus on winning three points in this match," Allegri said with a smile.

Responding to the team's defeat against Lazio, Allegri admitted that they had difficulties compared to the previous match.

According to him, the trip was tight and the team that broke the deadlock would win. Lazio, who finally made it after Mattia Zaccagni's header, welcomed a corner. And it was proven after Zaccagni's goal, no more goals were scored from both teams.

The match is tight and whoever breaks the deadlock will win it. And we did fail to take advantage of the opportunities available. Lazio were able to win because we faced more difficulties than the previous match," said the former Juventus coach, providing an analysis of the match.

"We had a wrong pass several times. When we were able to control the match, we actually made three or four unnecessary mistakes so that the opponent got a free kick and a corner kick," he said.

Allegri said further, "It's like when we faced Cremonese and Pisa. We were able to dominate but failed to win. We really had to improve."