In recent weeks, the Rossoneri coach has always distanced his Milan from any reflection on a chase for the championship, but he also knows well that since mid-December the team has been keeping up with the pace of the breakaways: “In the new year we are running like the first two”
They are those tense, dirty games that drain the soul and suck energy, but when they end – if they end well like this time – they then lead you towards the sofa and make you sit back, finally relaxed, to watch the others play. This is roughly the state of mind that gave the idea of having Pioli after the match in Frosinone. On the one hand the danger was escaped, on the other the awareness of having a team that – as per the Pioliano DNA widely found in these almost four and a half years – often knows how to react in moments of difficulty and finds a way to get back to the surface. And so, for a coach who has always accustomed everyone to a low profile and, especially in recent times, has drastically deleted the words run-up and Scudetto from his dictionary, a sentence like this does not go unnoticed: “If I support the draw in Inter -Juve? Since we won yes, can we say no? We will certainly recover something. It will be a great match between two teams who are dominating the championship. It will be very balanced as it was in the first leg.”
weight
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The focus obviously falls on that “yes, I’m rooting for the draw”. Dutiful and essential underlining: while he spoke, Pioli smiled amused, and perhaps a little slyly. In short, it wasn’t intended to be an official candidacy, that’s all. However, there is a fact that – net of the Rossoneri’s performances, which experience ups and downs – cannot be underestimated, and evidently he doesn’t do it either: Milan in 2024 – or rather, since mid-December – is traveling at a scudetto. In the championship he comes from a positive run of eight games, six of which were victories. He has only lost once in his last twelve outings. So, how to interpret that sentence by Pioli? What weight should you give it, beyond his ironic expression? Well, something like “it doesn’t happen, but if it happens…”. Reflections that come spontaneously after hearing the coach’s words, but above all because they are in total contrast with the – understandable – cancellation of certain thoughts and dreams forbidden from the rooms of Milanello. Pioli’s opinion on the possibility of Milan returning to the Scudetto race has always been a coherent thought, repeated several times in recent weeks: let’s not fall into that discussion, we think as always match after match, Inter and Juve are on another level.
reflections
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He also said it when some players recently tried to come out of their shell a little. To caress the apple of Eden. Indeed, it was probably precisely for this reason that Pioli always eliminated those types of reflections. But, however… Now, between some stumbles (Juve) and one less match (Inter), the ranking is less merciless, and therefore a joke about what would be the preferred result of Sunday evening’s match can absolutely be there. Also because the Rossoneri coach, upon leaving Stirpe, also adds another consideration: “In the new year we are very close to the levels of Inter and Juve, we are running like the first two”. So, even if only in the most hidden folds of the soul, why completely deny yourself a fleeting caress of the forbidden fruit?
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