AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli wary of backlash from wounded Roma

Stefano Pioli is suitably wary of a backlash from Jose Mourinho’s wounded Roma as AC Milan look to make a positive response of their own to a midweek cup setback when the Serie A giants clash at San Siro on Sunday.

The Rossoneri were dumped out of the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by Atalanta on Wednesday night, with Roma enduring a derby defeat by Lazio to exit the competition.

Pioli’s Milan are better placed in the league as they occupy third place – six points clear of Fiorentina – compared to a lowly eighth for Mourinho’s men, but the home boss knows complacency could soon lead to disaster for the 2021-22 Scudetto winners.

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He said at a press conference: “We have to recover straight away, we have to do it for own good and for the fans.

“We are Milan – criticism is part of the game. From day one I’ve always made sure my players are in the best condition possible to express themselves.

“We’re in the second half of the season now and we have to do even better than we did in the first half, making sure we at least guarantee ourselves third place.

“If we can then achieve even more then we will try and do our best but that isn’t entirely up to us. We have to prove we can improve significantly.

“I’m expecting an open and competitive match in which we’ll have to produce a high-level performance and win all our one-on-one battles.

“Roma are experienced, physical and organised, they don’t concede many and know how to hurt you whether going forward or from dead balls.

“Mourinho is a top boss and you can always tell it’s a big match when he heaps praise on his opponent.”

Beyond Wednesday’s upset, Roma are struggling for league form, winning only one of their last five and getting nothing away from home since beating Sassuolo in Emilia-Romagna on December 3.

Trying to put the Lazio loss to bed, Mourinho told asroma.com: “It’s very easy. The game is over and we lost. We did many things well in accordance with our limitations. We did other things not well. We analysed what we did well and not well yesterday.

Working towards #MilanRoma #ASRoma
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“We talked, we analysed, always seeking to improve within our limitations. And we start again, from my personal point of view, as I have done for over 23 years.

“Game played, game analysed, game over. And next game. There is no other story.”

On Milan, he added: “I face a team who play for the title, a team that won the Scudetto two years ago, a team who play to win the Scudetto, even if this year the distance in points between them and Juventus and Inter is a distance that will not be easy to bridge. They will put everything into this match.”