Allegri plays down Milan title talks despite leading Serie A
AC Milan could temporarily increase their lead at the top of Serie A to four points when they host newly-promoted Pisa on Friday.
Massimiliano Allegri insisted that AC Milan’s ambitions this season are to qualify for the Champions League, not win the Serie A title.
The Rossoneri are currently first in the Italian top-flight after seven games, and could go four points clear of Inter if they beat Pisa on Friday.
They are unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions, which includes a 2-1 win against reigning champions Napoli at the San Siro.
In the four previous seasons in which an Allegri team achieved 16 points from their opening seven games of a season, they won the Scudetto (Juventus 2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19), but the Italian coach is not targeting silverware this time around.
“Forget about that. The teams are different,” said Allegri.
“The important thing is to finish well, work hard with a low profile, stay quiet. What matters is winning matches.
“Winning is never easy. We want to take another step forwards and slowly head towards the tally that qualifies us for the Champions League.
“That is our goal. We need a minimum of 74 points. We’re not thinking about Napoli or Inter, we are thinking about [Pisa]. We have to keep our feet on the ground.”
Milan’s only defeat this season came on the opening day against newly-promoted Cremonese.
Allegri believes his side must be wary of the threat from another promoted side in Pisa, even though they are currently bottom of the league.
“There’s more than pressure, there’s a complicated game as well,” Allegri added.
“Pisa, aside from against Bologna, have always played battling matches, scoring and have played well against teams like Napoli and Roma. We will have to go about it in the right way.
“There’s a bit of a taboo to dispel as well, as we have to do a bit better than we did the last time we played a newly-promoted team.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
AC Milan – Rafael Leao
Against Fiorentina last time out, Rafael Leao found the back of the net at the San Siro in Serie A, 512 days after his last home goal (May 25, 2024).
On the two previous occasions on which he had scored at home, he netted in two in a row: against Salernitana and Cagliari in May 2024, and against Atalanta and Lecce in February and April of the same year.
Pisa – M’Bala Nzola
M’Bala Nzola has scored just once for Pisa this season, coming against Napoli, since his loan move from Fiorentina, but has shown plenty of promise.
However, in his five matches against Milan in Serie A, he has neither scored nor provided an assist; among teams against which he has not been involved in a goal in the competition, the striker has only played more minutes against Juventus (370) than against the Rossoneri (301).
MATCH PREDICTION – AC MILAN WIN
Milan are one of the two teams with the joint-most clean sheets in Serie A this season (four, level with Roma) and have faced the fewest shots so far (62). Indeed, in four out of seven matches, the Rossoneri have faced just seven or fewer shots, including their last match against Fiorentina (five).
They have also kept a clean sheet in 75% of their Serie A matches against Pisa (nine clean sheets in 12 matches), the highest percentage for the Rossoneri against any opponent they have faced at least five times in the competition.
Milan have faced Pisa 12 times in Serie A, remaining unbeaten in each of those occasions (W10 D2), at least double the number of times they have faced a single side without losing in the competition.
Pisa have three points in Serie A so far (D3 L4) – the worst start ever for the Tuscans in the top flight – and have failed to win their first seven Serie A games of a season for only the second time in their history, after 1983/84 (D4 L3).
They have conceded eight goals in their first three away league games of this season, never conceding more at this stage of a Serie A campaign on their travels (also eight in 1968/69 and 1990/91).
After four away games, the Nerazzurri have only conceded more in those same two seasons (10 goals conceded in 1968/69 and 12 in 1990/91).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
AC Milan – 70.2%
Draw – 17.5%
Pisa – 12.2%
