Milan send Juve out of bounds

AC MILAN pushed Juventus out of the Serie A top four with a 3-0 win in Turin yesterday which increases their hopes of Champions League football for the first time since 2014.

Brahim Diaz put Milan ahead just before the break with Anton Rebic and Fikayo Tomori adding two more in the secondhalf 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 newlycrowned champions Inter Milan.

“We had a great game, a victory over a direct rival at this moment in the championship is very important,” said Milan coach

Stefano Pioli whose side lost 3-1 to

Juve in the San Siro in January.

“We still have to fight. But I have a very young team, that is maturing as this evening proved.”

Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo was at a loss to explain what went wrong with star striker Cristiano Ronaldo failing to add to his Serie A-leading 27 league goals.

“We got into the game pretty well and then little by little we fell apart… It’s hard to explain,” said Pirlo.

“When you lose 3-0 in such an important game, it means that there are a lot of things that did not work.”

Pirlo ruled out resigning, insisting: “No I won’t step aside. I undertook this work with a lot of enthusiasm, with difficulties, but my work continues.

“I think I can do better. There are three games left and I will continue to do my job as long as I can.” AFP