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Pioli sends wake-up call to Milan after ‘painful’ Lazio defeat

Stefano Piloi - AC Milan
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The Rossoneri now face a battle to qualify for Europe’s most prestigious club competition after dropping out of top-four on Monday.

Stefano Pioli insists AC Milan “need to do better in order to end the season on the right note” following their humiliating Serie A defeat against Lazio.

Joaquin Correa opened the scoring at the two-minute mark before getting his second goal of the night six minutes into the second half. Ciro Immobile also got on the scoresheet as Lazio cruised to a 3-0 victory over Milan.

The result boosted Le Aquile’s hopes of a Champions League qualification as they jumped to third in the Serie A standings.

As or the Rossoneri, their hopes dwindled as they dropped down to fifth with only five matches left to play.

Pioli told Sky Sport Italia post-match: “We are a strong team and we need to react quickly, because this is a painful defeat.

“It’s not an issue of fear, but if you go down early against a side like Lazio, you allow them to defend and counter, which is their wheelhouse.

“We needed to either keep it on level terms or try to take the lead. We had chances, we were very close to getting back into it, and the second goal made it even more difficult.

“We need to do better in order to end our season on the right note, because we don’t want it to end with disappointment. The players are as disappointed as I am, because it was an important match. It wasn’t an awful performance, but we do need to do better.”

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