Pioli: ‘I hope to continue the work we are doing together for as long as possible’

Stefano Pioli has said that he hopes to remain at Milan for as long as possible after winning his 200th Serie A game. The Rossoneri recorded a 3-1 victory away to Cagliari on Wednesday night, with Noah Okafor, Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all getting on the scoresheet.

The Milan head coach spoke to DAZN post-match and discussed the importance of securing the win, tactics behind their second goal and on his milestone triumph:

Response to Loftus-Cheek on winning these matches to compete for the Scudetto: “He’s right, we know that in the long run the final tally will go through these matches which, in quotes, only on paper, may seem simple. We approached it well by creating dangerous situations, but then we conceded a goal in a situation that we must try to eliminate. Then we were very good from the point of view of character and tactical clarity, maintaining our way of playing. We won a difficult match, with merit.”

On tactics behind the second goal: “The credit goes to my staff and the players on the pitch. We had studied the opponent and had seen that outside the area we had numerical superiority. Then whether it was the first free throw or the second depended on the attitude of the Cagliari players outside the area. Thanks to the staff who prepared it, and to Adli and Reijnders who interpreted it with quality. It is important because unfortunately we are not a team that hits a lot on dead balls, even if we are more dangerous. Succeeding in this can give us even more confidence in these situations which can become important for the final result.”

On earning his 200th Serie A victory: “It means then that I have been coaching for a long time. Look at how many wrinkles and folds I have. I don’t know, but I hope to still work a lot. I like what I do and I get along well with my players. I hope to continue the work we are doing together for as long as possible.”