AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli feels that he would prefer to not meet Serie A rivals Inter or Napoli as early as the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via L’Insterista, the Rossoneri coach explained that, whilst he has no real preference as far as opponents go for the next round of the competition, he’d like to avoid domestic rivals until after the quarterfinals.
Milan have become the first Italian team to reach the quarterfinals of the this season’s edition of the Champions League with their aggregate win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The Rossoneri may not be the only team from Serie A in that round, however, given that Inter and Napoli will both have a good shot at reaching the next round with their own round of sixteen second leg matches against Porto and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.
Pioli explained that “I’d rather not meet an Italian team, though I hope that they go through anyway.”
“Part of what’s special about European competition is that it means meeting teams that you don’t normally come up against, that’s important for our growth,” he continued.
“However, we’re in the quarterfinals and so all the teams left are strong, there are no favourites and we have no real preference,” he added.