PIOLI: "IT WILL BE A VITAL GAME"

On the eve of AC Milan v Fiorentina, Milanello has been bustling with last-minute preparations. Including the pre-match press conference during which Coach Pioli answered questions about the Rossoneri's 35th season Serie A encounter. The conference was held at 14:15 CEST, Saturday 30 April, and was broadcast live on Milan TV, YouTube and Twitch.

AC MILAN V FIORENTINA
"It will be a vital game, as will all of our remaining matches. The best thing for us is to just focus on our next game, as we have always done - this has been our biggest strength. Fire in our hearts and ice in our veins. We're not thinking about our last four games but just about AC Milan v Fiorentina. The boys have been focused, determined and generous throughout the week, which we need going into tomorrow's game. I didn't say anything to the team on Thursday, nor did Ibrahimović: it didn't feel right. Fiorentina are a technical, fast and aggressive time - they could cause us problems. They love to wait for the right moment to strike so we will need to control the game and make the right choices while in possession. Italiano is a great coach. I rewatched the reverse fixture; we played well but should have scored more and then we were made to pay for our individual errors.

THE PRAISE FROM PAOLO MALDINI AND THE WIN IN ROME
"Paolo said that he is proud of this team's development. We're proud to have such talented directors as him. We deserved to win against Lazio because we believed until the end. We need to build on the goals that we scored at the Olimpico; from Leão's run in behind to Giroud's sliding finish, from Rebić's recovery to Ibra's positioning to Tonali's finish."

THE TEAM
"We're concentrating on doing our job well. It's not time for words, but for actions. I never say that everything will go well, we just hope it goes the way we want. I'm not bothered if people outside the team think we deserve it, the important thing is what we are doing; we've overcome various obstacles and we've never been down. We have our limits which we are trying to break and we have some assets that need to be praised. We play energetic football, which will always make it easier to win."

THE LEAGUE
"Every point is important at this stage of the season. A lot of games will be decided by individual moments and you need to make these moments swing in your favour. The objectives of a few teams have changed a few times throughout the course of the season; things change quickly. Serie A is a tough league with a lot of good teams. We need to improve our approach to games because we got it wrong ahead of the derby in the Coppa a and against Lazio. We've worked on that and we're trying hard to limit this type of error."  

INDIVIDUALS
"Bennacer has had some problems with his ankle but he trained with the group yesterday - he's not undervalued by me because he is a complete midfielder and is very important for us. Apart from Kjær, Florenzi and Daniel Maldini, the rest of the squad is fit to play. Florenzi is almost fully recovered."

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