Pioli: Winning the Champions League is a dream, but it’s useless to think about it now. What does the AC coach think will be the key to success against Spurs?

AC Milan will play the Champions League semi-final match against Tottenham at the San Siro on Tuesday evening. Rossoneri coach Stefano Pioli believes that his team will be equal to the English side and, in addition to praising Antonio Conte, he revealed what the path to success will be in Tuesday’s contest.

The AC Milan coach is expecting an even battle in Tuesday night’s clash. However, neither team is in any ideal form ahead of this game.

Above all, this is true of the home side, Tottenham did lose to Leicester 1: 4 in their last game, but before that they had won 3 games in a row. Including the cup tie with Preston. And as for the Italian club, they are currently in a big game crisis.

Although the second half of the recent league game against Torino already looked much better from AC’s side, they have won only twice in the last nine games. Apart from Torino, the Rossoneri took full points on January 4 against Salernitana.

But since then, not only in terms of results, but also in terms of gameplay, it has been a big misery. We published a more detailed article about AC’s crisis before the duel with Torino.

What needs to be done for AC to win?

“If we want to think about winning, we need high intensity (of the game – ed.) and technical quality. We have prepared for that,” said Pioli at a press conference, quoted by Football Italia.

“We have to play well, try to be always dangerous and control the game. We plan to send in an attacking trident, the defensive phase will have to be compact. We believe we can match Tottenham. Winning the Champions League is a dream, but it’s pointless to think about it now,” he added.

But besides that, the AC coach spoke words of praise for Antonio Conte and spoke about Ismaël Bennacker’s injury. Last but not least, Pioli also mentioned Tottenham’s form.

“It will be a tough challenge. Conte is a great coach and one of the few colleagues who called me to congratulate me on the title. He trained with us (Bennacer) but it’s not 100 per cent yet and we can’t take any risks. He will not be involved in the match,” revealed the AC Milan coach.

“They beat City a week ago, but we will not come into the game as a better or worse team than them. It will be a big game that we will have to play well,” he concluded.

As far as domestic competitions are concerned, AC Milan are currently fifth in Serie A with 41 points. Fourth-placed AS Roma and third-placed Atalanta Bergamo are tied on points, while second-placed Inter have two more points, albeit with one match to spare.

Tottenham occupy the same position in the Premier League as the Rossoneri in the Italian top flight. Spurs have 39 points, two points behind fourth-placed Newcastle. But the gap to third-placed Manchester United is already seven points.

Football Italia, UEFA Champions League