Fonseca urges Milan to take more risks after lifeless Juventus draw

Paulo Fonseca urged Milan to take more risks in the future and sympathized with fans who booed his players after a dull goalless draw against Juventus.

The two sides played a match with just three shots on target (one falling to Milan and two to Juve), as a chorus of boos greeted the whistle.

Milan has not scored in two consecutive home games in Serie A (against Juventus and Udinese in that case) for the first time since October-November 2023.

“If you don't win, and after a match like this, if I were a fan, maybe I would do the same thing,” Fonseca told DAZN.

“I am not a defender of this and I understand the fans perfectly.”

Milan's only real chance before half-time came through Emerson Royal, who headed wide of the near post after a corner, while a weak header from Theo Hernandez straight to Michele Di Gregorio was their only effort on target in added time.

They registered just two shots in the first half, and only three times previously have they managed fewer (2004-05 record), with two of those moments also coming against Juve.

“It was a very tactical match. The team had too much respect for Juve and Juve had too much respect for us,” Fonseca said.

The final whistle sounds at San Siro.#MilanJuve #SempreMilanBrought to you by @Bitpanda_global pic.twitter.com/abqiIBeG3X

— AC Milan (@acmilan) November 23, 2024

“We know that Juve defend very well, it is not easy to get chances against them and we did not take good advantage of the chances we had to attack.

“We could have done a little more offensively, we made a mistake on the last pass and we never took any risks. It's not easy against Juve, but when we get the chance we have to do better in the final decisions.

“The team has always had the will to play safe, but if we want to score we have to take more risks. Normally we always create different situations. Today the team did not take any offensive risks.”

When asked whether Milan in seventh place – with 19 points and a game to go – still had a chance in the title fight, Fonseca replied in the affirmative.

“For other people it is difficult, but I still believe in it. There are still many games and other teams can lose points,” he said.