The Rossoneri boss admits that his side are exceeding his own expectations after they grabbed their 15th victory of the season on Saturday.
AC Milan narrowly escaped past Sparta Prague, recording a 1-0 win in their final Europa League group stage match.
A 3-2 loss for Lille against Celtic means Milan finished as Group H leaders following Saturday night’s result.
They amassed a total of 13 points from six games, two more than Lille, with both teams clinching a place in Europa League Last-32.
Stefano Pioli’s men have been in remarkable form this season. Only once have they been found on the wrong end of a scoreline in their 19 matches across all competitions so far this season.
The Serie A side’s red-hot domestic form has made them look strong favorites early in the Scuddetto chase as they sit atop the table with a comfortable six-point cushion over defending champions Juventus and a four-point lead over second-placed Inter Milan.
“When I started the season, I had faith, because it’s a quality group, a united group, but clearly it was unthinkable that we’d get these results,” Pioli responded, via Football Italia, when asked if he had expected back in in March that his side would allow only one defeat for the rest of 2020.
“We are doing very well to play games to the full, forget them immediately and move on to the next challenge.
“That is our greatest strength and the players who haven’t played as much are the ones who are most important, as they allowed us to keep up the tempo in training and in matches when we have a packed fixture list.”
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