Milan-Slavia Prague, Pioli: "Good victory but qualification is still open"

Milan, 7 March 2024 – Il Milan feels the air of the cup and takes the first leg of the Europa League round of 4 by defeating Slavia Prague 2-XNUMX at San Siro. A result that allows the Rossoneri to look forward to the return match, scheduled for a week in the Czech Republic, with confidence is that it was achieved at the end of a match in which Pioli's men shone in the attacking phase - despite struggling at times to undermine Slavia's defensive treasure chest due to too slow a pace given to the ball - but also showed once again a few too many creaks in the defensive department. The key episode that broke the deadlock was Diouf's red card in the 25th minute. Eight minutes later AC Milan's lead came thanks to Giroud who then replied to Doudera's momentary equal with the one-two signed by Reijnders-Loftus-Cheek made it 3-1 at the end of the first half. Schranz then tried to reopen the game in the second half but in the 85th minute Pulisic finally closed the score with a deflection in front of goal, who capitalized on Leao's beautiful personal action to the fullest. A result that leaves you satisfied but not entirely - also in light of the numerical superiority for more than an hour - the Rossoneri coach Stefano Pioli: “Honestly – explained Pioli at the end of the match to Sky – I think we could have done a little more. After Aaer finished the first half with a double lead, I expected a second half with a little more pace, even if we started well and had a couple of scoring chances to go 4-1. It is certainly a good victory, but from a return perspective our opponents have proven to be a solid, energetic team and therefore progressing to the next round is still in question even if the advantage is good." Despite, as underlined, doing excellent things in attack at times, the Rossoneri in defense once again showed too much fragility and inattention: “In the two goals we conceded we made some small mistakes, not really serious mistakes. The blocked balls landed at the feet of their players who scored amazing goals, with ours being in the correct position but not very close. We had to create something more, but ten of us covered more spaces and everything became more complicated. We needed a little more pace, which we weren't always able to find." The Milan coach's gaze is now turned to the return match with confidence but also with the aim of keeping his players' guard up, because Slavia has shown that they are capable of selling their lives dearly: “They are a good team and in the return they will have to change the technical framework a bit. They will have to score two goals and therefore they will not be able to wait for us. They know how to be dangerous, because they are fast, vertical and can hurt on inactive balls. We will have to prepare it well and face it very carefully, because I believe that our opponents will try to play the game of their lives."