PIOLI: "WE'RE FEELING POSITIVE"

It's time to focus on league football again: a home game against Torino awaits the Rossoneri on Monday night (20:45 CET), a team who AC Milan recently played in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia at San Siro. Ahead of the matchday 24 clash in Serie A, Coach Stefano Pioli held his pre-match press conference at Milanello, with his words also being broadcast on the AC Milan Official App and Milan TV. 

THE ROSSONERI'S FORM
"The team are feeling good, we're coming into the game off the back of two positive performances in terms of how we played and the balance we had. We still need to consolidate and improve certain aspects, all the while displaying the same spirit out on the pitch. The team's mentality is the right one, we learnt our lessons from the Derby and demonstrated that in the Coppa Italia against Juve. There's a great balance to the team. We're compact and look dangerous, often much more than our opponents. We can only achieve good results by playing with intensity and displaying selflessness, this is what we need to do. We played as a team against two of the three strongest sides in the league."

TORINO
"We need to be well-prepared to face a side that will be difficult to beat, both because of their desire to overcome the difficult spell they're going through and also because of the quality that they possess: Torino are strong on both a physical and technical level. It'll be a difficult and competitive game, as it was in the Coppa Italia a few weeks ago. We will need to approach it in the right manner."

IBRA'S CONDITION
"Zlatan doesn't just speak for the sake of it. He's trained, he's told me he's feeling fine and I've seen nothing that tells a different story."

CASTILLEJO'S DEVELOPMENT
"My job is to try to get the most out of my players. Samu started off really well when I joined, then his injury stalled things a little bit. Ibra's arrival allowed me to come up with new tactical solutions. Castillejo has the right characteristics for the role he's playing in, he's performing there with great intensity and displaying the quality required."  

THE FUTURE
"I know full well what my role is, we all did well to not get distracted by rumours during the January transfer market. This needs to remain the same until the end of the season. We're at a great Club, there are still a lot of games to play and we need to remain focused until the last matchday. I'm not thinking about my future because it's of the utmost importance to think about our current situation. I've always felt the support of the Club but know that faith needs to be earned. The work we do and the results we achieve will determine what happens in the future."

THE OBJECTIVES
"The standard is very high in this league, we can't afford to have an ordinary end to the season. We can't waste any more time, the team can't afford to lose concentration. If the season came to an end today, we wouldn't be happy with our position in the league. We're feeling positive and need to make significant progress, both this year and hopefully in the future too."

VAR
"I'm not fully on board with and don't like the idea of benches calling for VAR to be used. I think that it's right for referees to do their job and coaches to do theirs. We need to accept the decisions which are made. The technology in place should help referees to officiate with more serenity."

Remember that tickets for the home matches against Torino, Genoa, Roma and Juventus are now on sale: get your ticket now and save money with our game packs!