Allegri: ‘Milan made the same mistakes’ with new 1-1 draw

Max Allegri warns Milan they ‘made the same mistakes’ against Fiorentina as with Genoa after a second consecutive 1-1 draw against relegation strugglers.

For the second game in a few days, the Rossoneri ended up grateful for a point against teams near the foot of the table, as after the 1-1 draw at Genoa midweek with a missed penalty in stoppages, they had the same result with Fiorentina.

Pietro Comuzzo had put the hosts in front with a relatively free header from a corner, then Christopher Nkunku blasted a powerful finish in at the near post on Youssouf Fofana’s through ball.

There was another scare deep into stoppages, as Marco Brescianini swept onto the bar from six yards, at which point Allegri walked off towards the tunnel before the final whistle.

“We had a good first half, and chances to score that we didn’t convert, then after the break Fiorentina had more of the ball,” Allegri told DAZN Italia.

“After going a goal down, we had patience to get the ball into the final third, but after equalising we made the same mistakes we did against Genoa.

“There were still seven minutes to go and with that much time you cannot lose the ball cheaply, you’ve got to play it better near the penalty area. The lads know this.”

Fullkrug did impress in the first half, combining with Christian Pulisic to create several chances, but Jashari in his first Serie A start struggled to fill the shoes of Luka Modric.

“In football you can’t have 100 chances, so you need to be a lot more precise in your finishing. We are currently second in the table, which is a good result, and we’ve got to continue our journey,” noted Allegri.

“I think Jashari did well, he hasn’t played much after a serious injury, it was by no means easy. He has a lot of quality, he needs to understand Italian football, which might seem simple from the outside, but is very difficult tactically. Many struggle to settle in and get a hang of it.

“I was joking with Luka Modric after the game with Genoa, he said he’d never had someone man-marking him absolutely everywhere. Italian football is very difficult for that.”

Allegri made several changes with Luka Modric, Adrien Rabiot, Rafael Leao and Youssouf Fofana initially rested.

“I think we did a bit better after the changes, and we needed to be more focused on the set play, as these are situations that can transform a game,” noted Allegri.

“The team used up a lot of energy in the first half, Loftus-Cheek, Jashari, Ricci and Estupinan did well, we needed to rest some of the players who have been regulars so far this season.

“It takes patience, because we want to reach the end of May in the top four, and that is not easy. Nkunku does well as a centre-forward, Leao wasn’t in good physical shape today, we are working to get everyone recovered and I’m pleased.”

This was a big opportunity to take advantage of the fact Inter and Napoli are facing each other this evening, and yet Milan risk sliding down to third place after this result.

“We have to focus on ourselves and getting back to winning ways, because we drew the last two, there are still 34-36 points to go for a Champions League spot. Let’s not lose sight of reality, we started with 50 per cent of the squad changed, we’re doing well and must try to improve.”