Milan’s Coach Sergio Conceicao Remains Grounded Following Victory Against Bologna

AC Milan’s manager, Sergio Conceicao, has called on his players to quickly absorb lessons from Friday’s fluctuating performance, emphasising the need for improvement ahead of the Coppa Italia final, despite a solid victory over Bologna in Serie A.

The team’s 3-1 win at home served as a decent rehearsal for next Wednesday’s final, where they will once again face Bologna at the famed Stadio Olimpico in Rome; however, the Portuguese manager wasn’t entirely pleased with his squad’s showing.

“From tomorrow, we’ll begin our preparations for the Coppa Italia. It’s important to learn from both our successes and our shortcomings tonight,” Conceicao remarked during his interview with Sky Sport Italia.

“I anticipate a different dynamic in the final, but you know how finals can be; sometimes the team that doesn’t play the best football comes out on top,” he added.

If Milan triumphs in the Coppa Italia, they will have collected two trophies this season, having previously secured the Supercoppa in early January. However, Conceicao refrained from speculating whether a win would assure his position as manager.

“I’m used to certain situations. Now isn’t the time to focus on me. I will address that when the time is right,” he stated.

Bologna’s coach, Vincenzo Italiano, expressed his frustration over the latter part of the match, where his team faltered against a vigorous Milan side that netted all three of their goals in the closing stages.

“We had control of the match and created chances to score a second goal, but then we experienced a 15-minute lapse that I simply can’t explain,” Italiano shared with Sky Sport Italia.

“That was the worst 15 minutes I’ve witnessed from my team in quite a while; otherwise, we played with spirit and could have scored more.

“We need to review this, as on Wednesday, we require a different mindset from those who came off the bench, since I was pleased with our start.”