LECCE, Italy : AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao praised his players for showing character as they recovered from two goals down at relegation-threatened Lecce in Serie A on Saturday.
Milan went 2-0 down in the first hour but made a comeback late in the game through a Christian Pulisic brace and a Lecce own goal.
“We had a little more time during the week to prepare for the match, we knew Lecce’s strengths and weaknesses,” Conceicao told DAZN.
“We had two goals disallowed, in the second half we didn’t come in as we wanted and they scored the second goal.
“It seemed difficult to turn it around, then character came out. I put on offensive players and in the end it went well. I have to compliment the team for how they worked during the week with the right attitude that I really liked.”
The win stopped Milan extending their losing streak to four games.
“I like to work on the pitch,” Conceicao added. “Today the aggression and pressing that we (generally) want was higher.
“I’m not at all happy about being eliminated from the Champions League but now we have more time. The lads have character and you could see it in the match today.”
Milan, who won five consecutive Champions League games between October and January, finished 13th in the league phase and were eliminated following an aggregate 2-1 defeat by Feyenoord in the knockout-round playoffs.
Pulisic returned to scoring after more than a month.
“Starting from the wing, he feels very comfortable in the central corridor, then it depends on the game,” Conceicao said.
“Today he started on the left, he is a player with great technical qualities and very intelligent. He can play behind the striker or on the wings but coming inside is the best position.”
In his second season at Milan, the United States international has so far scored eight league goals, four shy of his tally last season.
“It’s a very difficult moment for us, and this was a very important victory,” Pulisic said. “(But) we are a very united group, we demonstrated it with this very important win.”
Milan next host Cesc Fabregas’s Como on March 15 before travelling to second-placed Napoli after the international break.
Source: CNA
