Pioli blames injuries for Milan's slip-up in Serie A title race

The Rossoneri were hot favorites to clinch the Scudetto earlier in the season until they lost momentum.

Stefano Pioli insists injuries “certainly made a difference” for AC Milan in the Serie A title race.

Milan were still leading the Serie A title race in mid-February until their defeat against Spezia allowed rivals Inter Milan to rise to the top after beating Lazio.

The Rossoneri were immediately presented with the opportunity to reclaim their lead with a match against Inter up next. Instead, they increased their deficit to four points after losing the Derby della Madonnina 3-0.

Inconsistency continued to trouble Pioli’s men, who now find themselves at third place in the league standings with a huge 11 point-gap separating them and champions-elect Inter.

“Injuries certainly made a difference this season, especially as in some games we were missing entire groups of players in a single area of the team,” said the Milan boss as he attempted to explain his side’s downfall ahead of the final match of the Serie A season against Atalanta, speaking to Sky Sport Italia.

“When still in Europe, that meant we couldn’t rotate and those who were hurt didn’t have the opportunity to recover fully. We had games with six, seven, or eight players missing, so the timing was the worst thing.”