JAKARTA - Stefano Pioli praised the enthusiasm of the AC Milan players after being able to match Manchester United 1-1 in the first leg of the last 16 of the Europa League at Old Trafford, Friday morning.
Milan, who fell behind since the 50th minute due to Amad Diallo's goal, managed to force a draw with a late Simon Kjaer header, which resulted in an away goal for the Rossoneri for the second leg at the San Siro in a week.
After the first #ClashofDevils we caught up with the Coach, @soualihomeite and @DalotDiogo. Check out what they said 🎙️🗣️ Le dichiarazioni del Mister, Meïte e Dalot al termine at # MUFCACM # SempreMilan #UEL pic.twitter.com/YO8aRQ92Rk
- AC Milan (@acmilan) March 11, 2021
"The spirit of this team is extraordinary. We want to control every match and work hard to make it happen," Pioli said after the match reported by the official UEFA website.
"Before the match we would probably be very happy with the 1-1 result, but tonight we knew we could achieve more after this performance," he added.
Milan did appear quite aggressive in launching attacks by releasing no less than 15 attempted shots throughout the match, five of which met targets.
That figure shows aggressiveness compared to the hosts who only recorded seven attempted shots throughout the match.
In the first 11 minutes Milan were even able to break MU's goal twice through Rafael Leao and Franck Kessie, but both were disallowed, one for offside and the other for handball violations.
A proud performance puts in the driving seat for the return leg 👏 Un risultato importante in vista del ritorno 👏 # MUFCACM # SemperMilan # UEL pic.twitter.com/qldbXB4ynP
- AC Milan (@acmilan) March 11, 2021
Pioli emphasized that this kind of performance must be shown again by the Milan players at the San Siro if they want to get past MU's obstacles to the quarter-finals.
"We are trying to develop and return Milan to where it should be. This is the best game for that, so I'm happy to be against a team like United," he said.
"It was a good performance, and this is a good result, but we need another perfect performance in order to pass through a team this strong," concluded Pioli.
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