Champions League: Milan’s Pioli remains upbeat after bitter semifinal loss to Inter
The HinduAC Milan manager Stefano Pioli remained optimistic despite a dispiriting 2-0 first-leg loss to Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinal on Wednesday which he put down to their opponent’s clinical finishing. “The reality is that Inter performed better in the first half, scoring two goals, while Milan showed improvement in the second half but failed to find the net,” Pioli told Amazon Prime Italia. Milan secured a 3-2 win over Inter in Serie A in September before suffering back-to-back defeats, 3-0 in the Italian Super Cup and 1-0 in Serie A. Pioli, however, praised his team’s resilience as it bids to stay on course to win the European Cup for the eighth time, 16 years after its last triumph in 2007. Last season’s Italian champion Milan has won only two of its last six domestic matches and is just outside the top four in the standings with four games left.