Watch: Milan coach Pioli hails team performance after Juventus victory

Milan coach Stefano Pioli was delighted with his team’s performance in their 3-0 win over Juventus that boosted their hopes of securing a place in next season’s Champions League but warned his players that more work needs to be done to secure a top-four spot.

Brahim Diaz put Milan ahead just before the break with Anton Rebic and Fikayo Tomori adding two more in the second half after Franck Kessie had missed a penalty.

Milan move up to third, equal on 72 points with second-placed Atalanta, with Napoli a further two points behind in fourth and the final Champions League berth.

Juventus are now fifth, one point behind the top four with three games left to play, including next weekend’s clash with newly-crowned champions Inter.

“I’m really happy for the club who put us in the condition to do everything at our best,” Pioli said.

“The decision to pick up Diaz is down to the fact that one prepares a strategy and picks players according to their ideal characteristics to put them in practice.

“Today we focused on attacking midfielders, but it was the performance of the whole team that made all the difference. We believed in ourselves right from the start, we were compact and playing with great sacrifice and quality.

“It was a very difficult game, but we surely deserved the victory.”

Pioli, however, refused to get carried away and said the team had another difficult test when they face Torino on Wednesday.

“We have another tough match coming up in three days’ time. We are happy for our fans and now we have to think for our next match against Torino on Wednesday.”