Conceição: We Had a Bad Day, and We Deserved the Draw Against Napoli

Sergio Conceição, the head coach of AC Milan, revealed the difficult circumstances his team faced before the match against Napoli, which forced him to change his plans at the last minute, stating that his team deserved a draw despite losing 2-1.

Conceição said: "Since I joined Milan three months ago, I haven't looked for excuses due to the lack of training time, but today was an exception, as everything went against us."

He added: "I woke up at 7:30 AM to a call from the doctor informing me that Loftus-Cheek was suffering from acute appendicitis and would undergo emergency surgery."

He continued: "Then at 12:30, the medical staff informed us that Malek Thiaw was unable to play due to vomiting, and shortly after that, Rafael Leão felt pain in his calf muscle."

He went on: "I had already considered not starting Leão, as he returned late from the international break after playing two matches, and the same was true for Santiago Giménez, so we had to make tough decisions."

He confirmed: "We prepared for the match in a certain way, but we had to change a lot due to the emergency circumstances; nevertheless, we did not perform at the required level in the first 20 minutes, and we conceded an early goal that disrupted our plan."

He added: "I don't want to talk about bad luck, but we had a bad day by all standards; at least we showed a strong reaction in the second half, created many chances, and we deserved to come away with a point."

He clarified: "The team has great potential, but we need to find balance; we must improve our high pressing, as Napoli managed to penetrate our lines easily during the first half."

He concluded: "I saw improvement in the second half, where we played with more courage and desire, and this is the mentality we must always have. We still have a chance to change the atmosphere, and we have an important match on Wednesday against Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final, and we must take advantage of it in the best possible way."