Pellegatti ‘bitter and worried’ after Newcastle game: “It was the easiest match”

Carlo Pellegatti has been left with a ‘bitter’ taste after AC Milan were unable to get all three points against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.

Milan did everything but score against Newcastle United as they were frustrated in their opening Champions League group stage game. It was another type of pain compared to the derby as they dominated, had 25 shots and yet couldn’t win.

They had nine shots on target against the Premier League side, conceding just one shot on target in the 95th minute. There was a lack of composure in front of goal which Rafael Leao was guilty of above all.

While Stefano Pioli can be happy with the response from his team after such a bad response, it does make qualifying for the knockout stages a tad more complicated given this is a game the Rossoneri will have been looking to win.

Pellegatti spoke during an interview with Radio Rossonera and offered his reflections on what was a frustrating night for Milan.

What kind of feeling did Milan-Newcastle leave you with?

“It left me bitter and worried, because it was the easiest match of the six games, on paper. It proved to be an easy match, it’s a shame that Milan weren’t able to put the ball in the net. They were three points that I thought I would take home until the end, it was truly a shame.

“It was important to win to forget about the derby and to avoid having the same questions about the match against Verona. As a sense of unease, certainly not that this is the case, it reminds me of Milan 0-0 Cagliari before going to Bergamo in the last match. Then everything went well, but that wait is similar.”

We remained waiting for the goal to come, and it didn’t…

“It’s a coincidence. A player was speaking to a colleague today at Milanello, he said: ‘Match identical to the ones against Torino, Bologna and Roma. The goals came there and not here’. If you write to me that from now until the end we will have 25 opportunities per game, I will sign. Also because out of 10 games you win 8.”

Rafael Leao was given the title of MVP…

“I hope someone from UEFA picks up the phone to whoever elected him. Surely Oppenheimer went to see the film, then they called him and told him to assign it to him so he never makes a mistake.

“I would have given it to Tomori… Today I’m nervous, even the criticism has annoyed me! You have seen the value of Tomori, here we are also discussing whether the Earth is round when Milan are not doing well. He is indispensable for the Rossoneri.

“Leao must aspire to become Mbappé, who doesn’t close the amusement park every now and then. I don’t care about the slightly awkward heel turn, I haven’t fallen off his bandwagon. Leao is our great champion.

“Someone said to me: ‘Are we sure that before the renewal there was a queue of people who wanted it?’. In England, that kind of player isn’t crazy…’

“Yesterday on a throw from Maignan that didn’t reach him, he got nervous. But, I repeat, the amusement park cannot close every now and then if it wants to reach Mbappé’s level. Otherwise he remains a great talent, not a champion.”

Is Giroud’s ankle still a problem?

“It could be, I’m not saying no because I don’t know. Bench? There’s a good dilemma against Verona. I think there could be Chukwueze, Okafor and Pulisic. Leao won’t play them all from the first minute, against Hellas it seems like the ideal match to let him rest from the start.

“Be careful, since I’m nervous: I don’t want to keep hearing that we need to play the starters immediately, always. Why did we spend 140 million otherwise? If we believe that Chukwueze, 30 million, Okafor, 15, Pulisic, 25, are not capable of beating Verona, it means that we have wasted 140 million.

“Some say yes and some say no to Chukwueze. I liked it, a little more concrete in front of goal because I want shots. It’s a start, if this is it it’s not good, but he seems like a player who knows how to put the ball in and doesn’t do dribbling for its own sake.”