Allegri demands more Milan belief after Atalanta draw
AC Milan were held to a second straight draw by Atalanta, and Massimiliano Allegri wants his side to believe more in their attack.
Massimiliano Allegri urged AC Milan to have more faith in attack after battling to a 1-1 draw away to Atalanta on Tuesday.
Milan moved level on points with second-placed Roma, who host Parma on Wednesday, after following their 2-2 draw against Pisa with another point in Bergamo.
Samuel Ricci fired home on the half-volley just four minutes into the clash with Ivan Juric's side, who then levelled through Ademola Lookman 10 minutes before the interval.
Mike Maignan was forced to keep his side level late on, but it was at the other end of the pitch where Allegri wants to see Milan improvements.
“We have a few absentees, but the team is reacting well,” Allegri told DAZN Italia.
“We were forced to defend ourselves in the first half after the goal because we were making a lot of technical errors, while we did better after the break, creating chances and making the wrong choices in the final third. That is where we must improve, the team needs to have more belief in what it is doing.
“Atalanta could not continue keeping that high press throughout and we knew they’d run out of steam, but in those moments we needed to improve our finishing and our choices in the final third.
“The goal we conceded was avoidable too on the through ball, but the team must be proud of its performance and prepare for the next match against Roma.”
Tuesday's result saw Milan held to draws in two Serie A matches in a row for the first time since doing so in December 2024 and January 2025, against Roma and Cagliari.
A point did, however, make it nine games unbeaten for Allegri's side in all competitions (W6 D3) for the first time since a nine-match run between April and May 2023 under Stefano Pioli.
It could have been a different story against Atalanta if not for Rafael Leao being replaced by Christopher Nkunku at half-time, before Santiago Gimenez limped off with an ankle knock.
Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot, Pervis Estupinan and Ardon Jashari are also all injured, prompting concerns for Allegri before an enticing home fixture against Roma on Sunday.
“Leao had a little problem with his hip; he wasn’t in great shape at the end of the first half, so the team needed fresh legs, and Rafa was struggling to sprint, so I preferred to take him off,” Allegri added.
“Gimenez just had a knock, it shouldn’t be particularly serious for Leao either, and hopefully we’ll have Estupinan back against Roma too.
“I hope that after the break for international duty, we’ll have everyone back and fit, but until then we’ve got to grit our teeth.”
