Rabiot dismisses talk of AC Milan drop in form
AC Milan dropped two valuable points in the Serie A title race last time out, and will want to bounce back at Fiorentina on Monday (AEDT).
The Rossoneri are not concerned about their Scudetto hopes slipping away, with Adrien Rabiot pointing out that there is still a long way to go.
Milan let two points slip through its grasp last time out in a 1-1 draw with Genoa.
That result left Massimiliano Allegri's side three points adrift of rival Inter Milan at the top of the table, but with the Nerazzurri facing third-place Napoli on Monday (AEDT), they could have an opportunity to make up ground.
Milan has not lost in Serie A since matchday one, when it went down to Cremonese in the first league game of Allegri's second stint in charge.
"It's January," Rabiot said as he reflected on last week's slip-up. "The season runs until May, there are many matches and many head-to-head games.
"We need to stay calm, recover our energy for Sunday [Monday AEDT] and keep going. We're there. We're not worried."
Rabiot does believe Milan must shake its habit of starting slowly. If only first halves counted, it would be fourth on the Serie A table with 28 points. In the second-half table, it is second with 34 points.
"We always tell ourselves to start well, but sometimes we're not there mentally," Rabiot continued.
"We do better after half-time, but we can't play only 50 minutes per match. We'll keep working on this, especially on the mental side."
Fiorentina is 18th on the table and has taken more points from its past four games (seven) than it did from its first 15 at the start of the campaign (six) since replacing Stefano Pioli – a former title-winning coach with Milan – with Paolo Vanoli in November.
