From Cristiano Ronaldo to Rafael Leo. Pioli puts everything in ‘clean dishes’

Stefano Pioli gave this Monday an extensive interview to the Italian television station Sky Sport, in which he addressed several themes, starting from the outset by the fact that Rafael Leão has starred in a gradual fall in income from the moment he left the technical command of AC Milan in 2024.

“The year of Scudetto was devastating. I've seen few players on that level. Then he didn't do so well, neither did we, because when you win, it's because something special is created on the team. Paolo [Maldini, then technical director], Ricky [Massara, then sports director] and I did not do well, neither did he, by maintaining and further increasing the level.”.

“He certainly has important qualities. Coach has to understand the players. Rafa is a good player, who needs to be encouraged in a certain way,” he added, regarding the Portuguese international that in the past summer transfer market would eventually be sold to Galatasaray, for a sum of EUR 38 million.

“Diego Moreira impressed me”

The 61-year-old coach refused, moreover, to establish any kind of comparison between Rafael Leão and Diego Moreira, who, still last weekend, wore the ‘hero cap’ by contributing a goal and two assists to the victory achieved over the eternal rival, the Internazionale, in the long awaited Derby della Madonnina of the tenth Serie A journey, by 3-1.

“ I also saw him against Sassuolo, and he impressed me. He and [Adrien] Rabiot are very good. AC Milan played a great game, [Mike] Maignan made a great defense, but with the initial eleven they have, they are a very strong team. When [Ruben] Amorim made some substitutions, they felt a little more difficulties ", analyzed.

“ It took them a while to get to this point because they had players coming, probably, with some problems, and it takes time to find the rhythm and the best way. The results are coming up. [Luka] Modric also has some important strength. Gonçalo Ramos is doing a great job for the team and is a very good player ", completed.

The ‘sin’ of Jorge Jesus with Cristiano Ronaldo?

In conclusion, Stefano Pioli explained what it was like to work with Cristiano Ronaldo during the Al Nassr season of 2024/25: “I don’t regret going to Saudi Arabia. I wanted to gain experience abroad after the years spent at AC Milan. The financial aspect and the opportunity to train Cristiano Ronaldo also had a word to say.”.

“ If you don't train him, you don't understand how big he is. He's a champion, obsessed with preparing to score goals. It is very respectful (...). Christian and Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] have a very similar relationship, ‘If you are clear with me, I respect you. If you are not clear with me, we are not well.’ I have always based our relationship on clarity and sincerity”, he said.

“ Of course, with Zlatan and Cristiano, if you tell them ‘Listen, you're not playing tomorrow’ or ‘You're playing 60 minutes tomorrow’, and you do it, it makes a difference. I didn't tell Zlatan that once in the middle of a hurry. I think it was during the Covid-19 period that we played every three days. At the end of the first part, it was 0-0, and in ten minutes, we scored two or three goals ", continued.

“ I made three substitutions, Zlatan, Çalhanoglu and another, but I hadn't told Zlatan before. The next day, he came to me... The good part of Zlatan is that, as soon as he moves on, next day, it is as if nothing had happened”, he concluded.