Pioli turns to Torino after thumping Juventus
Stefano Pioli warned his Milan players against complacency after they took a significant stride towards Champions League qualification with a resounding 3-0 win over top-four rival Juventus on Monday
Brahim Diaz opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before Franck Kessie missed the opportunity to double its advantage shortly before the hour mark, when Wojciech Szczesny pawed away his penalty.
It mattered little in the end, though, as substitute Ante Rebic and Fikayo Tomori sealed a first away Serie A win against the Bianconeri since March 2011 inside the final 12 minutes.
The victory was Milan's 14th away from home in the league this season, with only Inter in 2006-2007 (15) registering more in a single campaign in the history of the competition.
Pioli was thrilled with his side's efforts, but says they need to quickly turn their focus to Wednesday, when they return to Turin to face Torino.
"This was a team that believed, that showed a spirit of sacrifice, that gave it's all and showed quality, too," he said.
"We want to thank our fans, who really moved us this morning with their support, but now we have another game coming up and that might be even more difficult than this."
The win moved the Rossoneri up to third in the table, three points above Juve, who dropped down to fifth with just three games remaining.
Pioli hailed the determination of his team after they scored three goals away to Juve for the first time since January 2010.
"We have had big wins this season, but admittedly this was a head-to-head, with the table so tight and so much in the balance," he added. "Unfortunately, it is not the final game of the season so we still have to keep going.
"When it comes to determination, team spirit and preparation to sacrifice, we were perhaps the best team in Italy for a long period of time.
"There was inevitably some mental fatigue after a long campaign, but we knew that today we had to step it up and put in a different performance.
"When it was time to make challenges and fight for every ball, we did not hold back."
Rebic replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 66th minute, the Sweden international limping off with a knee injury.
Pioli, though, is confident it is nothing serious.
"Zlatan was not at 100 per cent, he had half a training session with us on Friday, but he wanted to be here at all costs," he said.
"He has a sore knee, but I don't think it's anything serious. We'll evaluate it."
