Stefano Pioli believes Milan's 1-1 draw with Juventus shows how far his side have come as they no longer require a "miracle" to win a game they are second best in.
Milan battled back to claim a point in Sunday's Serie A clash at Allianz Stadium after Ante Rebic headed in 14 minutes from time to cancel out Alvaro Morata's early opener.
Without a number of key players through injury, including strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud, the Rossoneri struggled in the first half and could have been further behind.
But they took more control of the game in the second half, when seeing 62.7 per cent of the ball, and almost snatched the win late on through a well-saved Pierre Kalulu strike.
The draw ended Milan's perfect start to the league season, but they are level on points with champions and early pacesetters Inter after four matches.
Pioli, who guided the Rossoneri to second place last season – their best finish in nine years – is pleased with the way his side recovered to avoid defeat in Turin.
"We came here to win the game," he told DAZN. "We found a better opponent than us in the first 20 minutes especially, but we did much better in the second half.
"It was definitely a positive performance from us on the whole. Maybe last year to win these games we had to hope for a miracle; now we are aware that we can win these games.
"We tried until the end to claim the victory."
Rebic led the line in the absence of Giroud and Ibrahimovic and responded with his second goal in as many games, having also netted in the 3-2 Champions League loss to Liverpool in midweek.
The Croatian forward is the first Milan player to score against Juve in three successive Serie A games in the three-points-per-win era (since 1994-95) and Pioli heaped praise on Rebic.
"Ante has immense intensity and quality to his game," Pioli said. "He can play in more or less any role and he helped us today. He is a very important player to break games open.
"I've always seen my players ready to overcome any limitations. They have quality and work throughout the week with a sense of belonging.
"The opposition might be better on the day, but we will always give it our best shot going for the victory."
Rebic's header from a Sandro Tonali corner ensured Milan avoided defeat at Juventus in a match they trailed for the first time since February 1996.
While Milan are well positioned at the top end of the table, opponents Juventus are winless after their first four games for just the fourth time in their history.
Despite boasting an eight-point gap on Massimiliano Allegri's men, who are inside the relegation zone, Pioli insisted it is too soon to look at the league standings.
"We are only four games in," he said at his post-match news conference. "There is time for every team to improve their position. But of course were are satisfied with what we've done."
Dundee consider appeal against six-figure fine for postponements over poor pitch
Dundee are considering an appeal after being handed a six-figure fine – most of which is suspended – following a disciplinary hearing over their troublesome pitch.
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) announced that a fine of £186,000 had been handed down.
However, £120,000 of the punishment is suspended until the end of next season and will only be triggered by a further breach of rules.
Dundee disagreed with the wording of the SPFL press release, claiming they had been fined £150,000 in total with an additional £36,429.60 fee payable as compensation to the SPFL for television and pitch specialist costs.
The cinch Premiership club say the additional £120,000 fine would be “automatically triggered in the event of a single waterlogged pitch postponement next season”.
A statement added: “Dundee Football Club are deeply disappointed with the severity of the punishment and are currently seeking legal advice with regards to an appeal.
“The club will be making no further comment on the outcome while we seek legal advice.”
The league said that Dundee had admitted five separate breaches of SPFL rules relating to their Dens Park pitch following five postponements of league matches this season.
An SPFL spokesman said: “SPFL rules on pitch condition are an integral part of maintaining a fair league competition.”
Two of the postponements – against Rangers and Aberdeen – came within 90 minutes of kick-off and a recent game against Motherwell only went ahead following a late pitch inspection, with visiting manager Stuart Kettlewell subsequently arguing that areas were unplayable.
The rearranged match against Rangers was postponed again last week and a contingency plan was made to play the game at St Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park before the game finally went ahead at Dundee’s home ground on Wednesday, with the match ending goalless.
Massimiliano Allegri taking nothing for granted at resurgent strugglers Cagliari
Cagliari’s record at home means Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri is not taking the trip to the Sardinian capital lightly.
Juventus are well positioned to secure Champions League qualification for next season, while Cagliari are just four points above the drop zone ahead of Thursday’s contest at the Unipol Domus.
The Bianconeri next take on Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-final on Tuesday, holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
But Allegri is wary of Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari, who scored twice in the last quarter of an hour to secure a 2-2 draw at runaway league leaders Inter Milan last time out.
“Of their eight wins this season, six have come at home and 23 of the 31 points they’ve got have been picked up at home,” Allegri told a press conference.
“They’re a team who score a lot of goals in the last 15 minutes of games and particularly with players who come off the bench, they have scored more goals with substitutes than anybody else.
“We know it will be a tough game, so our very best version will have to show up. We won’t be rotating ahead of the Italian Cup, the most important game is Cagliari, then we’ll focus on the cup.
“It would be a mistake to not focus on Cagliari, and a win in Sardinia would allow us to take a big step towards our goals.”
Juventus still have clashes against top-four rivals AC Milan, Roma and Bologna ahead of them in the next few weeks.
“It’s important to stay focused on the next month or so,” Allegri added. “We have a lot of difficult games to come. A win at this stage is almost worth double.”
Cagliari have lost just once in their last eight matches to ease relegation fears and twice hit back from a goal down to claim a surprise point at Inter Milan on Sunday.
“I told the guys that they are doing well, but we have new pitfalls ahead of us,” Ranieri told a press conference.
“The team is focused, we have to keep the right balance. We have to keep pushing without fear, the salvation fight is very tight. There are no foregone conclusions, you go out there and fight.”
EFL to seek compensation for clubs after FA Cup replays abolished
The EFL will seek compensation for its clubs over the “frustrating and disappointing” decision to scrap all FA Cup replays from next season.
League sources say it was sidelined from the decision, which was announced by the Football Association on Thursday.
EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “Whilst the league had previously been involved in discussions over the future of the calendar, these were predicated on the agreement of a new financial deal with the Premier League for EFL clubs which has not progressed.
“This is frustrating and disappointing given the calendar is a shared asset across football, and as we have consistently said a whole game approach is required to find solutions to complex fixture scheduling challenges.
“Our domestic calendar has been put under extreme pressure by the expansion of UEFA competitions and ultimately this represents another lost traditional revenue stream for EFL clubs at a time when the financial gap between the biggest clubs and those further down the pyramid is growing bigger than ever.
“We will now be discussing the implications for EFL clubs and seeking appropriate compensation arrangements.”
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