Pioli: Pulisic wanted to stand on goal, we told him he was too short

AC Milan survived a living hell at Marassi and won three costly points, since neither Theo Hernandez nor Mike Maignan will be present in the derby with Juventus after the international team break due to a red card, i.e., suspension.

The French keeper was shown a direct red card for a reckless tackle on Caleb Ekuban in stoppage time, so he was replaced in goal by Olivier Giroud who did a terrific job of stopping George Puskas from scoring the equaliser.

Giroud explained after the game why he wanted to put on the gloves, while in Genoa they were angry with the referees and the VAR room, and Stefano Pioli revealed that the first to report for goalkeeping was Christian Pulisic.

"Something like this has never happened to me before. Christian Pulisic wanted to take Maignan's place, but we told him that he was too short. Olli got the job," said Pioli, who does not hide his satisfaction for the three points:

"Many strange things happened during the game, we knew it would be difficult, but in the end we won. It shows our mentality, character and strength. I am very satisfied with the reaction of the players".

He is even more pleased that Milan are top of the table.

"We had five away games in the last eight games, that's why I'm happy with the position we're in. We're aware of course that we have to do a lot and we can do better."

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"It is very early to look at the table, three or four clubs will fight for the Scudetto. This result is important for confidence after a series of difficult games. Three days after a difficult match in the Champions League against a very good rival, it is incredible that we managed to play a game like this, with a lot of desire and intensity. We weren't good at the technical level, but we believed until the end".

Milan are top despite being badly defeated by Inter in the city derby (5-1).

"Everything went wrong for us in that game. But the season didn't end there. We were lucky that we could come back immediately and against Newcastle stop thinking about what happened. Now we are going to take a well-deserved rest, because after the breal we have Juventus, PSG and Napoli awaiting. Maignan and Hernandez will certainly not be against Juventus because they are suspended".

This is the first time since winning the Scudetto that Milan are top of the table, while the team looks completely different from the one decorated with the championship crown.

"Now we have more alternatives, options, players that I can rotate. I have watched a lot of games recently and team play is very important, but in the end the talent of individuals is what makes the difference. Now we have many players who can make the difference."

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For this match, Pioli decided to rest all the first options in the attack, so he started with Luka Jovic, Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor...

"I honestly thought they were players who could carry the team, while Christian and Rafa gave us more energy after the break. I'm happy to have such a strong group of guys, to have an A team and a B team. When you play this many games, the biggest problem is mental and physical fatigue. If I had started the game as usual, I would have definitely called these guys from the bench to shake things up. Genoa deserves praise for their aggressiveness and excellent defense."

Finally, he thanked the management for having such a team at his disposal.

"They allowed me to have a team according to my criteria. We were almost complete before the tour in the USA. We brought young players, who do not lack experience. Now the process of adaptation of new players has ended. We are a team, we have our strengths and weaknesses, but we are a team".

Milan's next match will be against Juventus at San Siro on October 22.

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