AC Milan’s narrow 1-0 victory over Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at San Siro left coach Stefano Pioli ruing his side’s failure to take full advantage of the 10-man visitors.
Ismael Bennacer’s maiden goal in the tournament was all that separated the teams, as Milan now take their slender advantage to Naples for the second leg in a week’s time.
Despite Frank Anguissa’s sending off leaving the Partenopei shorthanded for the final 15 minutes, the Rossoneri were unable to add to their lead, which could prove costly in the return fixture. Pioli was pragmatic, however, warning his side that no first-leg result could guarantee their place in the semifinals.
Milan’s impressive track record in the Champions League, having progressed from seven of their previous nine two-legged ties after winning the first leg, will give them some confidence, but Pioli knows that the dangerous Napoli side could overturn any deficit, and his team must be at their very best to advance.
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The Milan coach told Amazon Prime Video: “Napoli got off to a better start than us, we started badly at the beginning, they were more aggressive.
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“Then we had a good game, we regret not taking advantage of the numerical superiority in the final [stages].
“It’s a result that gives us a chance to go through. No result would have guaranteed qualification.
“Now we will go to Naples with confidence and concentration, we know the difficulties we will encounter.”
Milan will head to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium for Tuesday’s quarter-final second leg buoyed with confidence from an impressive record against Napoli this season.
Pioli’s side have inflicted two of Napoli’s five defeats this term, with Milan the only team to beat the Serie A leaders more than once in the 2022-23 campaign.
The Rossoneri are also the only side to stop Napoli scoring in two separate games this term, keeping Luciano Spalletti’s men at bay in Europe and a 4-0 thrashing of the Partenopei in Naples just 10 days ago.