Stefano Pioli
MilanLuca Gotti
Lecce
Meeting Highlights…WIN
The desire is certainly there. We arrive in the most important period of the season in good conditions, especially mentally. We happened to win four consecutive games in the league but we never managed to reach the fifth. Lecce has just put the team in difficulty with Roma: we will need a good performance. It will be a difficult match because they are doing well since the change of coach, they are a team that wants to play and knows how to do it. In the last two they haven't even conceded, but we are able to put in place what is necessary to win.
…TEAM UPDATE
The concentration is on the championship match. There will be some changes due to some physical problems or the disqualification of Loftus-Cheek, but not because we are already thinking about Roma. Having continuity is too important at the moment, we will have time to recover our energy for the Europa League. The best team will play. Thiaw will not be available as a precaution. There is hope that he will be available for Thursday's match, in which we will already have to deal with the absences of Kalulu and Tomori.
…GAMEPLAY
The team has rediscovered that serenity, energy that comes from performances and the surrounding environment. We have always been very capable of playing with enthusiasm in positive moments and I believe that for the mental characteristics of my players it is the best situation. To continue like this we need to approach matches in the right way, combining quality with performances and results.
Stefano Pioli
Manager on Milan…WIN
The desire is certainly there. We arrive in the most important period of the season in good conditions, especially mentally. We happened to win four consecutive games in the league but we never managed to reach the fifth. Lecce has just put the team in difficulty with Roma: we will need a good performance. It will be a difficult match because they are doing well since the change of coach, they are a team that wants to play and knows how to do it. In the last two they haven't even conceded, but we are able to put in place what is necessary to win.
…TEAM UPDATE
The concentration is on the championship match. There will be some changes due to some physical problems or the disqualification of Loftus-Cheek, but not because we are already thinking about Roma. Having continuity is too important at the moment, we will have time to recover our energy for the Europa League. The best team will play. Thiaw will not be available as a precaution. There is hope that he will be available for Thursday's match, in which we will already have to deal with the absences of Kalulu and Tomori.
…GAMEPLAY
The team has rediscovered that serenity, energy that comes from performances and the surrounding environment. We have always been very capable of playing with enthusiasm in positive moments and I believe that for the mental characteristics of my players it is the best situation. To continue like this we need to approach matches in the right way, combining quality with performances and results.
Luca Gotti
Manager on Lecce…ABOUT MATCH
It will be a difficult match like all those in Serie A. Milan are a top-ranking team in an excellent moment and have quite different characteristics from Milan; they manage the pitch differently and will require us to change some of the things that have helped us against Rome. Milan have players who move a lot like Theo, Calabria, Florenzi... if you want to think about playing a match with individual references they take you around. We'll see during the match about 4-3-3.
…INCREDIBLE RUNNING PERFORMANCE
They train with a lot of intensity, not just those who have played recently. I have to take into account the positive signals to make the best use of them. In Salerno, from the point of view of quantity, the team ran 126 km: an incredible performance. Against Roma instead 119: great performance, but you've already lost half a kilometre per player. This means that in Salerno we struggled a lot, while against Roma we ran better.
…QUALITY
The important thing is that Milan don't have total control of the match as happened in Salerno. You need personality in managing the balls, accepting a small risk coefficient. Only in this way do you stay in the match for 90 minutes.